New Delhi, May 10 : Vice Admiral (retired) Vinod Pasricha, who was the captain of INS Viraat in December 1987, categorically denied that former prime minister and late Rajiv Gandhi had used this warship as his 'personal taxi' to enjoy a vacation in the island of Lakshadweep as alleged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At a recent campaign rally, Modi even alleged that Rajiv had hosted several foreigners (read Sonia Gandhi's relatives) on board with him. Pasricha, who retired from the navy in 2002 as the Western Naval Command chief, speaks exclusively to Rashme Sehgal about the ongoing controversy. Here are the edited excerpts of the interview: