New Delhi, January 30: Hours after being lambasted by Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for "politicising a personal visit" to him, Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrote back saying he "empathises" with his position. The scathing letter by Parrikar, said the Gandhi scion, was necessitated to demonstrate his loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Parrikar ji, I empathise with your situation. I understand the immense pressure you are under after our meeting yesterday. Pressure that forced you to take unusual step of demonstrating your loyalty to PM and his cronies by attacking me in uncharacteristic manner," Gandhi wrote. Manohar Parrikar 'Clearly Stated' He Has Nothing To Do With New Rafale Deal 'Orchestrated' by PM Narendra Modi to Benefit Anil Ambani, Says Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress chief refuted the Goa CM's charge of politicising his visit to the ailing Parrikar in Panaji on Sunday. "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," he said.

"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," the Gandhi scion added.

Here is the letter written by Gandhi to Parrikar:

Earlier in the day, Parrikar had written to Gandhi, charging him of lying about the details of the discussions of their meeting. "I feel let down that you have used this visit for your petty political gains. In the 5 minutes you spent with me, neither did you mention anything about Rafale, now did we discuss anything related to it," he said.

The letter came a day after Gandhi, while addressing a gathering in Kochi, said he was told by Parrikar that he had "nothing to do" with the new Rafale deal inked with Dassault in 2015.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2019 10:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).