Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday slammed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for using his courtesy visit to him on Tuesday for “petty political gains”.
Rahul Gandhi met Parrikar in Panaji on Tuesday who is suffering from a serious ailment,
Rahul later said during a meeting with booth-level party workers in Kochi that former defence minister told him that “he had nothing to do with the new Rafale deal.”
Manohar Parrikar said he “felt let down” by Congress president Rahul Gandhi after the latter used their personal visit to score political points.
“I feel let down that you have used this visit for your petty political gains. The meeting which lasts for 5 minutes, neither did you mention anything about Rafale, nor did we discuss anything related to it,” Parrikar wrote in a letter to Rahul.
“Paying a courtesy visit and then stooping so low as to make a false statement for petty political gain has raised, in my mind, questions about sincerity and purpose of your visit,” wrote Parrikar.
“Here am I fighting against a life-threatening illness. Due to my training and ideological strength. I wish to serve Goa and its people against any/all odds. I thought your visit would give me your good wishes in that cause of serving our people. Little did I know that you had other intentions,” Parrikar added.
Parrikar went on to reiterate that the aircraft were bought as per the Defence Procurement Procedure. “I have said this before and wish to reiterate it again in today’s context too. The fighter aircraft are procured following all stated procedures keeping national security as top priority.”
