Congress says,’ What’s the secret hidden in Manohar Parrikar’s bedroom?’

mangaloretoday network

Panaji, Jan 02, 2019 : The Congress today claimed to have an audio recording of a Goa minister quoting Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as saying that files related to the Rafale jet deal were "in his bedroom" and demanded to know from Prime Minister Narendra Modi whether that was why the government was not allowing an all-party parliamentary inquiry, NDTV reported.

 

Manohar Parrikar was Union Defence Minister when the deal for 36 Rafale jets was signed between India and France. He has been chief minister of his native state Goa since March 2017. In recent months, he has been severely unwell, battling a pancreatic condition, which has spurred calls for his replacement.

The Congress claimed that Mr Parrikar had said at a meeting of the Goa cabinet that no one could remove him as "all the Rafale papers are in my flat, in my bedroom". Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is on tape relating this conversation, claimed Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala today, shortly before the jet deal was to be discussed in parliament.

Mr Surjewala played an audio tape, the authenticity of which cannot be verified by NDTV, in which Vishwajit Rane is apparently talking to an unknown person about a three-hour cabinet meeting and saying "keep it confidential".

A voice said to be Mr Rane’s says that the chief minister "made a very interesting statement, that I have all the information of Rafale in my bedroom". The other person is heard reacting: "What are you saying!" To which, the minister says: "...You can cross-check with somebody you are close to in the cabinet. This is something he said, that means he is holding them to ransom... He said it is in my bedroom here only in my flat, each and every document on Rafale."

Mr Surjewala told reporters: "Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has the all the files relating to Rafale jet deal. The fashion in which every procedure was bypassed...it is all recorded in the files. Those files are with Mr Parrikar. Why are those files being hidden?"

The Supreme Court recently cleared the government of allegations linked to the Rafale deal. There is no reason to doubt the decision-making process behind the Rafale jet deal, the court had said in a huge reprieve to the government, which has been repeatedly accused by the Congress of corruption in the Rs. 59,000-crore contract.

The court rejected a probe and dismissed petitions that had alleged that the government had gone for an overpriced deal to help Anil Ambani’s company bag an offset contract with jet-maker Dassault. "There is no evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity," the court had said.

Former ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, along with advocate Prashant Bhushan, have requested the Supreme Court to review of its December 14 decision.

The Congress today reiterated its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation.

"We want the truth. Parrikar has said this to someone whose identity we have deliberately kept confidential," Mr Surjewala said.