Sparks fly over Congress tape on Parrikar; govt hits back

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday dropped a bombshell in the Rafale jet deal issue releasing a purported audio clip of a Goa minister speaking about Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s alleged claim of a file on the contract “lying in his bedroom”, sparking emphatic denials from the Centre and the Goa government.
Sparks flew between the Congress and the Centre with the opposition party’s chief Rahul Gandhi making an attempt in the Lok Sabha to play the unverified audio tape purportedly of the minister Vishwajit Rane telling an unidentified person regarding the alleged claim by Parrikar at a Cabinet meeting.
Gandhi also alleged that Parrikar is “blackmailing” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As tempers ran high in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the tape is “false and fabricated”, asking the Congress president if he can authenticate it.
Parrikar on his part termed the audio clip cited by the Congress on the Rafale deal as a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after the Supreme Court exposed the “lies” of the opposition party.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala came out with a conversation purportedly between Rane and another person regarding the alleged claim by Parrikar.
Rane purportedly can be heard saying that during a Goa cabinet meeting last week Parrikar stated he had an entire file and all documents relating to the Rafale deal lying in his bedroom, Surjewala claimed, playing the conversation for the media outside Parliament. (PTI)