'Rahul Gandhi is compulsive liar': Manohar Parrikar's OSD slams Congress chief for claiming Goa CM not involved in Rafale deal

Panaji (Goa): Rahul Gandhi is a “compulsive liar,” Prasanna Karthik, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Goa chief minister, said on Wednesday while commenting on the Congress chief’s claim that Manohar Parrikar had denied any involvement in finalisation of the Rafale fighter deal. Rahul met ailing Parrikar in Panaji on Tuesday to “wish him a speedy recovery”. Hours later, he said at a party workers’ meeting in Kerala, “Friends, the ex-defence minister clearly stated that he has nothing to do with the new deal that was orchestrated by Narendra Modi to benefit Anil Ambani.” [caption id=“attachment_5189991” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Manohar Parrikar.[/caption] The chief minister’s OSD slammed Rahul for making such a claim, terming it as “disgusting”. “This guy is a compulsive liar. He came saying he wants to convey his and his mother’s wishes for a speedy recovery. The chief minister met him out of decency. Now he shamelessly lies about him - a person who is fighting cancer without compromising on his commitments to his people. Disgusting,” Karthik tweeted. Parrikar, a senior BJP leader, is suffering from a pancreatic ailment and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi and New York since February, 2018. Significantly, Rahul paid a visit to Parrikar, a day after demanding action against him for allegedly being in possession of files related to the Rafale fighter deal. “30 days since the Goa Audio Tapes on Rafale were released. No FIR or enquiry ordered. No action against the Minister either! It’s obvious that the tapes are authentic and that Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar is in possession of explosive Rafale secrets, that give him power over the prime minister,” Rahul tweeted on Monday. Interestingly, senior Goa Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar had said on Wednesday that the meeting between Rahul and Parrikar lasted five minutes and the issue of ‘Rafale audio tapes’ was not discussed. The Congress, earlier in January, had released an audio clip claiming that Parrikar possessed all files related to the deal. Congress party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had claimed that the audio clip had the voice of Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane speaking to another person about the deal. According to the Congress claim, Rane, in the audio, said 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.” Later, Rane hit back at the Congress, asserting that the audio tape was doctored and Parrikar made no mention about Rafale deal and its documents. “The audio tape is doctored. Congress has stooped to such a low level to doctor a tape to create miscommunication between the Cabinet and chief minister. Parrikar has never made any reference to Rafale or any documents. I have asked him for a criminal investigation into the matter,” Rane had told reporters.