Parrikar was 'buying fish' in Goa when PM Modi changed Rafale contract: Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday said former defence minister Manohar Parrikar was unaware about Prime Minister Narendra Modi changing the 'Rafale' contract, as that moment, the former was 'buying fish' in Goa.

Rahul was addressing a public rally here ahead of state assembly elections.

"The former defense minister was in Goa buying fish from a fish shop ... he did not even know that Modi ji hadchanged the contract of the Rafale deal," he said.

Earlier, he called out Defence Minister Nirmala Sithraman for changing her stance on revealing the cost of Rafale fighter aircrafts.

In a snide tweet, Gandhi wrote, "Tweet- Q. Why did the Raksha Mantri change her stance from :

I will reveal the price of the RAFALE planes in Nov 2017 to the price is a state secret in Feb 2018

A. Corruption
B. To protect Modiji
C. To protect Modiji's friend
D. All of above."

The Congress president has also addressed the issue while interacting with reporters and informed that he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi three questions in connection with the Rafale deal during the parliamentary session.

"I asked the Prime Minister three questions- cost of jets, if they asked Cabinet Committee on Security about it and why was the contract snatched from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and given to a businessman? But got no answers," he told reporters.

Gandhi further said that the Prime Minister gave a long speech in the Rajya Sabha, "but wasn't interested in answering fundamental questions."

Elections in Karnataka are scheduled to be held in April and or May this year to elect members from 224 assembly constituencies.