Rafale deal: Goa minister Vishwajit Rane says audio clip played by Congress 'doctored', seeks probe

Goa minister Vishwajit Rane has termed an audio clip, cited by the Congress to attack the Centre on the Rafale issue, as "doctored" and told BJP president Amit Shah Wednesday that he has asked the state government to order an inquiry into the matter.

In a letter to Shah, Rane said he never had any conversation with anyone on this Rafale issue.

According to BJP sources, Rane has said that "I have also sent a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar asking for an immediate police inquiry and criminal investigation to expose the mischievous elements." In his letter to Shah, Rane also said,"...this is a doctored audio and have never had any discussion with this regard on this subject with anyone."

"I would like to...inform the chief minister that there is someone playing mischief and there should be inquiry in this matter and such mischievous elements need to be brought to the books," Rane said in the letter to Parrikar.

The response from Rane, a BJP leader, came after the Congress Wednesday demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Parrikar's alleged claim that he had a file on Rafale and asked if this was the reason why a joint parliamentary committee probe was not being ordered.

In his letter to Parrikar, Rane has sought a thorough probe into the matter to bring the accused to the book. 

Parrikar also responded to Congress allegation and said, "The audio clip



released by the Congress party is a desperate attempt to fabricate facts after their lies were exposed by the recent Supreme Court verdict on Rafale. No such discussion ever came up during Cabinet or any other meeting."

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala came out with a conversation purportedly Rane and another person to back his allegations.

Speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, Surjewala played out the clip, claiming that Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane was speaking in it to another person about the deal. 

In the audio, Rane, as claimed by Congress, divulged that Parrikar, who was the Defence Minister when the Rafale deal was signed in 2016 between India and France, had "all files related to the deal in his bedroom."

In the audio, Rane, as claimed by Congress, divulged that Parrikar, who was the Defence Minister when the Rafale deal was signed in 2016 between India and France, had "all files related to the deal in his bedroom."

After playing the minute-long audio, Surjewala said, "Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has all the files relating to the Rafale jet deal. The fashion in which every procedure was bypassed, it is all recorded in the files. Those files are with Parrikar. Why are those files being hidden?"

Continuing his tirade against the BJP, Surjewala asserted that Rane's revelations revealed the truth of the alleged scam in the Rafale deal.