"I understand you are under immense pressure": Rahul writes to Parrikar

New Delhi, Jan 30: Even as Manohar Parrikar maintained that the Rafale deal issue never came up during his meeting with Rajul Gandhi, the Congress president said: "Parrikar Ji, I empathise with your situation". Gandhi said that he has not revealed anything about the conversation they had during the meeting, hinting that Rafale deal matter may have come up during the meeting.

Hours after a "personal visit" to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar at his office in Panaji on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi today claimed that the former Defence Minister had clearly stated he had nothing to do with the "new deal" on Rafale fighter jets, and targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parrikar on Wednesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi for using their brief meeting for 'petty political gains.

"I have not shared any details of my conversation with you when we met in Goa yesterday. In my two speeches since we met, I have referred to what is already in the public domain...My visit to you was strictly personal and driven purely by my empathy for your situation. You will no doubt recall that I also called you when you were undergoing treatment in the United States to enquire after your health and wish you well," Rahul wrote to Parrikar today, as per ANI reports.

"Parrikar Ji, I empathise with your situation. I understand the immense pressure you are under after our meeting yesterday. The pressure that forced you to take the unusual step of demonstrating your loyalty to the Prime Minister and his cronies by attacking me in an uncharacteristic manner," he wrote.

Parrikar had accused Gandhi of lying, and maintained that the subject of the Rafale fighter jet deal had not even come up during their conversation.

But, Rahul Gandhi told Congress booth-level workers in Kochi, Kerala, that, "Friends, the ex-defence minister Parrikar clearly stated that he has nothing to do with the new deal that was orchestrated by Narendra Modi to benefit Anil Ambani."

Rahul Gandhi, however, did not clarify whether the Rafale deal was discussed during his meet with Parrikar, who has been extremely unwell over the past few months with a pancreatic condition.