Parrikar, Rane and the Rafale ‘Files’
Besides being an embarrassment for the Parrikar government, the audio clip episode may also dent Rane’s political career
When he defected from the Congress to join the BJP in 2017, health minister Vishwajeet Rane told Manohar Parrikar that he revered the chief minister like his father. Since then, however, Rane has played spoilsport for the ailing CM. Last November, he revealed details of Parrikar’s pancreatic cancer much to the BJP’s embarrassment. He’s in the soup again thanks to a leaked recording in which he’s heard claiming that Parrikar had said he could not be asked to step down because the files pertaining to the purchase of Rafale jets were in his bedroom.
An audio clip released by the Congress on January 3 purportedly has Rane discussing a state cabinet meeting that took place some two months ago with a local journalist. “The CM made a very interesting statement,” he says, claiming that Parrikar said that he had all the Rafale files in his bedroom. “You can actually make a story and... cross-check with your source in the cabinet,” Rane allegedly told the journalist. “It means he is holding them (the BJP) to ransom. He said he has each and every document of Rafale with him. Whether he wants someone to inform Delhi I don’t know,” he’s heard saying.
Congress president Rahul
Gandhi raised this in the Lok Sabha the same day. Both Rane and Parrikar denied that any such conversation had taken place. While Parrikar said that nothing on Rafale was discussed at the said meeting, Rane claimed that the audio clip had been doctored to frame him.
Town planning minister Vijai Sardesai, who was present at the meeting, refused to comment on the issue, saying that revealing details of a cabinet meeting would be a breach of secrecy. However, some BJP leaders believe that Parrikar must have said something informally on Rafale before the meeting started. It was the first meeting since his return from the US in June. Recounting this ‘informal conversation’, these leaders claim that someone asked Parrikar why he did not speak on Rafale when the government was facing a tough time. According to them, the CM replied: “Modiji is handling the issue well. There is no need for me to intervene.” Another BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said he wasn’t surprised at Rane’s statement. “Parrikar is known for making exaggerated claims. He may have said something to show his importance.”
On January 3, Parrikar announced that a forensic test would be conducted to verify the authenticity of the audio clip. While officers at the state police headquarters waited past working hours, anticipating an order from the CM, it never came.
Former CM Laxmikant Parsekar, who has been sulking since his opponent Dilip Sopte was inducted into the BJP, says the clip is a matter of concern and warrants “a thorough inquiry”. Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo, also an aspiring CM, in an apparent dig at Rane, said there was a need to take serious note of falling tourism and health services. And the state Congress president, Girish Chodankar, sarcastically, sought more security for Parrikar.
Political observers believe that any chances Rane had to reach the top post in Goa may now be over. He was in the race as a possible replacement for Parrikar, along with assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant. But it’s also true that given his clout in four assembly segments—Valpoi, Mauem, Sankhali and Dicholim—the party will need him to retain the North Goa Lok Sabha seat. A desperate Rane tried to meet BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi on January 5, but all he got was a meeting with the Union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi.
The audip clip episode could hurt the BJP in the upcoming assembly bypolls in Shiroda and Mandrem.
Any chances Rane had to reach the top post in Goa may now be over. He was in the race as a possible replacement for Parrikar