Narendra Modi, Amit Shah can't make Manohar Parrikar resign as they fear blackmail over Rafale: Congress

Amit Shah on Sunday said that Parrikar will continue as Goa CM.

PANAJI: The Rahul Gandhi-led Congress party on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah did not dare seek ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's resignation as he had crucial information on the Rafale fighter jet deal which he could use to 'blackmail' them.

The allegations were made by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar shortly after BJP chief announced that Parrikar will continue as chief minister, ending days of speculation over a leadership change.

''I am sure Manohar Parrikar must be having a lot of information about the Rafale deal as he was the Union Defence Minister at that time,'' Chodankar said.

Chodankar claimed that PM Modi and Shah lacked the courage to ask Parrikar to resign from the post because of the Rafale fighter deal.

He repeated the Congress allegation that the deal for 36 French aircraft was 'a huge scam' which also involved PM Modi.

Earlier, while ruling out Parrikar's resignation, BJP chief said that there will be changes in the state cabinet soon.

Shah made these remarks following a meeting with the Core Group members of party's Goa unit.

गोवा प्रदेश भाजपा की कोर टीम के साथ चर्चा कर यह निर्णय लिया गया है कि गोवा के मुख्यमंत्री श्री @manoharparrikar जी ही गोवा सरकार का नेतृत्व करते रहेंगे।

प्रदेश सरकार के मंत्रिमंडल व विभागों में बदलाव शीघ्र ही किया जाएगा।

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 23, 2018

Parrikar is admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi with a pancreatic ailment, and the Congress has been pitching for a floor test in the Goa Legislative Assembly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had sent three central observers last weekend to take stock of the political situation after Parrikar was admitted at AIIMS.

Commenting on the political situation in Goa, Chodankar said the Congress prayed for Parrikar's speedy recovery but claimed the state administration had collapsed as the ailing CM has not been able to find time for it for the last seven months.

Besides Parrikar, he said, two other ministers are also admitted in the hospital.

''If this continued, Goa itself will end up in the ICU,'' he said.

In the 40-member state assembly, the Parrikar government has the support of 23 MLAs.

The BJP has 14 MLAs against 16 of the Congress, and Parrikar's appeal was a key reason it secured support from a cross-section of legislators following last year elections.

The Congress party had last week stalked claim to form the government in Goa and demanded a trust vote to prove if the Parrikar-led BJP government still enjoyed majority support.  

(With PTI Inputs)