If AICC directs, will file police complaint into Rafale audio: Congress

If the AICC directs, the Goa Congress will file a police complaint into the revelation allegedly made by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane in a telephonic conversation that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had stashed files related to the Rafale deal in his bedroom, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said on Monday.

Chodankar also said that the initiative of probing the controversial audio tape, in which Rane allegedly is heard telling a local newspaper editor over the phone about the Rafale files, lay with the ruling BJP governments in the state and the Centre.

"It has been 30 days and there is still no probe. If the police is not enquiring, then the tape is genuine. It is now clear that the tapes are genuine, because there is no probe. If we get a order from the Delhi AICC (All India Congress Committee) to file a police complaint, we will file one," Chodankar told reporters.

The state Congress President also said that the real responsibility to probe the contents of the tape now lay with the BJP, whose leaders had claimed that the audio tape was doctored.

An audio clip featuring Rane and a local journalist -- where the former claimed that Parrikar in a December 2018 cabinet meeting admitted to possessing a stash of files related to the Rafale deal -- had created ruckus in Parliament.

Rane later said that the tape was doctored.

Earlier on Monday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the Goa Chief Minister possessed "explosive Rafale secrets" which gave him power over Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Thirty days since the Goa audio tapes on Rafale were released. No FIR or enquiry ordered. No action against (Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane) either," Gandhi, who is currently holidaying in the coastal state, said in a series of tweets.

"It's obvious that the tapes are authentic and that Goa CM Parrikar is in possession of explosive Rafale secrets that give him power over the PM (Prime Minister)," Gandhi also said.

--IANS

maya/mr/rs