Rahul Gandhi attacks govt on Rafale deal, cites audio tape
New Delhi, Jan 2 : Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed high drama after Congress president Rahul Gandhi sought permission to play a purported audio tape of a Goa minister on the Rafale deal but refused to authenticate it, prompting Union Minister Arun Jaitley to accuse him speaking "lies repeatedly".
Initiating a discussion on the Rafale issue, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he "does not have guts" to come to Parliament to confront questions on the issue and "hides" in his room.
The Congress leader also rejected Modi's claim in an interview that there was no personal allegation against him, saying this is not true as the entire nation is asking him direct question.
"He (Modi) spoke for 90 minutes in a staged interview but still did not answer questions on the Rafale issue," Gandhi said.
Is it not true that defence ministry officials objected to the new price of Rs 1600 crore, Gandhi said, accusing Modi of favouring his "dear friend" and "failed businessman" Anil Ambani.
Gandhi then sought permission to play an audio tape purportedly of a Goa minister on the Rafale issue.
Jaitley demanded if he can authenticate it, but the Congress leader said he would not do so.
"He knows it is wrong and hence is scared to authenticate it," Jaitley said, adding "this man lies repeatedly".
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
