Congress takes BJP head-on on VVIP chopper deal
27 Apr 2016
The Congress today sought a discussion on the AgustaWestland helicopter deal in the Lok Sabha, saying allegations have been levelled against its leadership.
As soon as the House took up the Question Hour, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said all newspapers have the news item regarding the VVIP helicopter deal and allegations have been levelled against party leaders.
''Names have appeared. We will have to think about it. We should discuss,'' he said without naming AgustaWestland.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the issue can be raised after Question Hour.
Congress has maintained that the previous UPA government, which it led had taken action once reports of wrongdoings and allegations of corrupt practices surfaced in 2013.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also rejected allegations linking her and her party leaders in the AgustaWestland chopper deal bribes. "I am not afraid, accusations they are levelling at us are false," said Gandhi
Besides cancelling the deal, the UPA had blacklisted AgustaWestland and confiscated the guarantee money. But the NDA government, the party said, has now removed the Italian company from the blacklist.
