New Delhi: With the government all set to make a ‘big revelation’ in the Parliament today on the AgustaWestland scam, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose name has been mired in the controversy said that any new information ‘is most welcome’.
At 2 pm today, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will place all facts along with the detailed chronology about the controversial deal before the Rajya Sabha. According to reports, the BJP has promised to make ‘new revelations’ in Parrikar’s statement, and the Congress' Sonia and Rahul Gandhi may be targeted directly.
When Rahul was asked about the charges levelled against him by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, he said, “We will give them befitting reply in Parliament.” Somaiya has alleged that the Congress vice-president’s close aid Kanishk Singh was connected to Guido Haschke, one of the middlemen in the AgustaWestland deal.
PM Modi meets top Ministers ahead of Agusta debate
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met senior ministers Manohar Parrikar, Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu this morning ahead of the debate in Parliament on the AgustaWestland scam.
Also, the Congress president today held a strategy meet with party MPs and made it clear that it will not back down. She told all her MPs to be present to articulate their views and present the party's case.
On Monday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, had accused the Centre of pursuing a politically motivated campaign to defame the grand old party through the AgustaWestland copter scam.
For the BJP, new Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy will lead the discussion along with Bhupendra Yadav. The Congress is expected to field Abhishek Singhvi, Anand Sharma and former defence minister AK Antony.
Congress leaders, including Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh, are mentioned by name in documents that an Italian court used to conclude last month that bribes of up to 30 million euros were paid in India for the deal for 12 helicopters.
The Agusta deal was signed in 2010 and was cancelled in 2014, after the allegations of corruption surfaced.
Meanwhile, the CBI has questioned former Air chief SP Tyagi in connection with alleged irregularities in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP chopper deal. The investigating agency had earlier on Saturday quizzed former IAF deputy chief JS Gujral in connection with this case.
Both Tyagi and Gujral were questioned at length in 2013, but the fresh round of questioning was necessitated after recent order of an Italian Court which indicated corruption in the deal.
