Rahul stooped very low by lying about meeting with Parrikar: Shah

BJP president Amit Shah hit out at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, saying he had stooped very low by lying about and trying to politicise his visit to ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Shah was addressing the BJP's booth-level workers in the presence of Parrikar here.

"I felt good when Rahul Gandhi went to meet Parrikar, our leader who is battling a disease, to wish him (well)," the BJP president said.

"But in the evening, he (Gandhi) claimed that during the meeting Parrikar spoke about the Rafale issue. This is a very low level of politics," Shah said.

He accused Gandhi of mocking Parrikar's illness by "speaking lies".

"Next day, Parrikar wrote a letter and clarified that he had not even uttered the 'R' of Rafale, let alone (talk about) Rafale and Rahul Gandhi was lying," Shah said.

Gandhi had met Parrikar, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment, on January 29 to enquire about his health.

The Congress chief later claimed that the former defence minister had told him that he had nothing to do with the new Rafale fighter jet deal. Parrikar denied it.

Shah said the "Congress president had broken all norms of politics" by stooping to an unprecedented low.

"I want to say this to the people of Goa, while your beloved leader is fighting a disease, the Congress is trying to play politics on it," he said.

The BJP chief also showered praise on Parrikar.

"When I went to his house, I asked (him) whether he would like to join the meeting where there will be several leaders. He said, 'even if for two minutes, I would like to go and meet my workers'," Shah said.

"If you want to see how a party worker should be, look at Parrikar," he added.

Even now the Goa chief minister calls Delhi every second day to follow up on the pending work of his state, including the mining ban issue, Shah said.

"In my entire life, I have never seen such a dedicated chief minister," he said.