Manvendra Singh Joins Cong, Says Parrikar Sick Due to Rafale Files

Addressing a press conference, Manvendra remarked that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s illness was due to “Rafale files.”

(Photo: PTI)

Veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh's son and MLA Manvendra Singh joined the Congress party on Wednesday, 17 October, ahead of the Assembly polls in Rajasthan in December.

Addressing a press conference, Singh remarked that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s illness was due to “Rafale files.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had signed the Rafale deal in September 2016 while Parrikar served as the defence minister, to purchase fighter jets from France.

The Goa chief minister has been has been ailing since mid-February and has been treated at different hospitals including those in Goa, Mumbai and the United States.

The Congress has been attacking the BJP government over the Rafale deal for a while.

Earlier, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi mounted attack on Parrikar for not addressing the Rafale deal controversy.

"A Defence Minister who knew about bypassing of the cabinet committee on security (CCS) norms, transfer of technology and not following of defence procurement procedure, continues to maintain his silence and chooses not to answer," Chaturvedi said. "So his silence is a conspiracy in an agreement that has betrayed this nation," she added.

Singh (54), who won Barmer's Sheo constituency as the BJP candidate in 2013 Assembly elections, had announced at a rally last month that he is leaving the Bharatiya Janata Party.

(With inputs from PTI)