Incensed over the BJP dragging Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s name into the AgustaWestland chopper deal, party veterans, who are rarely heard in Parliament, came out in defence of their leader.
Advertisement
Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the Bharatiya Janata Party had deputed the entire government machinery to come up with all sorts of charges against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi.
BJP president Amit Shah, lashing out at Mrs Gandhi, said: “All I want to ask her is that those who gave bribes are in jail in Italy, then where are those who received the kickbacks?” PM Modi doesn’t spare a minute to put his political opponents behind the bars, so it means that Sonia Gandhi is not his political opponent. “Government of India has approached the government of the United Kingdom for extradition of Christian Michel to India in connection with the AgustaWestland scam”, he said. “Will Amit Shah and BJP answer the people as to why the same “fraud company” was permitted to be part of Prime Minister’s “Make-in-India” programme and participate in “Aero India Exhibition”?”, he said while releasing purportedly related documents. “Who are the bribe-takers”, it said, adding the Congress camp is “rattled” by the presence of some new faces in Rajya Sabha, in an apparent reference to BJP leader Subranian Swamy.
Swamy on Wednesday had named Congress Pesident Sonia Gandhi linking her to the chopper case in which alleged payoffs were made. “They have now raised this issue intentionally”, Pilot said.
Referring to the conviction of Italian officials linked to the VVIP chopper scam, he also asked the then Defence Minister A.K. Antony to name the party leaders, allegedly involved in the scandal.
Echoing similar views, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli had earlier said, “Under the NDA, not a single thing has been purchased from AgustaWestland, ED is investigating a few people…A lot is happening, so Congress is just trying to distract public from the question of “who took bribe”. “It is all disinformation, a malicious campaign”. “Why it did not do anything for two years when CBI was conducting inquiry?”
Asked whether Congress was ready to have a discussion in Parliament on the issue, he said “we are ready for any discussion”.
Advertisement
The defence ministry on Thursday issued a clarification on the issue through the Press Information Bureau. “We denounce this propaganda”, he said.
