Parrikar is the 'first victim' of Rafale deal, says NCP leader Jitendra Awhad

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Jitendra Awhad opined that late Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was the "first victim" of the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Speaking to media here on Monday, Awhad claimed that Parrikar, who was the Defence Minister at the time when the Rafale deal was inked, returned to Goa as he was "sad".

"Manohar Parrikar was a very educated and well-read person. I think after Rafale deal, he did not feel right so he decided to go back to Goa. He was sad. I should not say this as he is not here today, but I feel he is the first victim of the Rafale Deal," the NCP leader said.

"People have been speaking on Rafale and corruption for the last 1.5 years, but no one pointed fingers at Manohar Parrikar. His character speaks for itself that he can't be corrupt. But corruption which had occurred pained him. It didn't let him fight his disease and led to his death," Awhad added.

The Centre had recently told the Supreme Court that certain documents pertaining to the Rafale deal were stolen from the Defence Ministry.

Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal made the submission during the hearing on review petitions filed by various parties against the top court's December 14 judgment in which it had refused to order a probe into the deal to procure 36 Rafale fighter planes from France.

Last week, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had asserted that the probe into the "missing" Rafale files should begin from Parrikar, who had claimed that the files related to the deal were in his possession.

"Manohar Parrikar had told the Cabinet that the Rafale files are with him," the Congress chief had said while referring to a purported audio conversation between Goa minister Vishwajit Rane and an unidentified caller that had references to the deal.