Panaji: The Goa Congress on Friday stepped up pressure on the ruling BJP-led coalition government to probe the contents of the controversial audio clip, in which Health Minister Vishwajit Rane purportedly in a conversation says that files related to the Rafale fighter-jet deal were kept in Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s bedroom.
The development comes in the wake of Director General of Police Muktesh Chander’s comment to the media that the state police had received no direction from the state government to initiate a probe, even as Rane claimed that he had requested Parrikar to initiate a probe by the police, as well as central agencies, into the “doctored” audio clip.
“Their confusion has been outed and no matter how much they pretend that the audio is manufactured and is not correct, the people are not convinced. The people are convinced that the voice is of the correct person,” state Congress president Girish Chodankar said while addressing a joint press conference with Congress MLA and Opposition leader in the state legislative assembly Chandrakant KavlekarA at the state assembly complex.
The audio clip, which created a ruckus in Parliament on Wednesday, allegedly features Rane in phone conversation with a journalist, where the former quoting Parrikar’s statement at a December 20 cabinet meeting, says that Rafale files were stored in the bedroom of the private residence of the former Defence Minister.
Both Parrikar and Rane have claimed that the audio clip was not genuine, blaming the Congress for “mischief”.
–IANS
