The President of Congress and “the prince of the party” must answer the people, said Ravi Shankar Prasad.
New Delhi:
No deal without a deal or contract without reduction has been the policy of congressional leaders, the BJP said on Tuesday, attacking the opposition party for reports of bribes allegedly received by its members in connection with of the AgustaWestland helicopter agreement.
Demanding responses from the congressional leadership, top BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that from the Jeep scandal, the Bofors scam to the submarine scandal and several others, the leaders of the Congress have for their sake made a “mockery” of national security.
Quoting a media report on the main defendants in the helicopter deal mentioning the names of top congressional leaders like Salman Khurshid and Ahmed Patel, and Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri, he said: “Whenever you think of a bribe in a military deal, think of some leaders in Congress. “
“No defense deal without loot, no defense deal without a bribe, and no defense deal without certain leaders of Congress becoming beneficiaries has been the policy of choice of the leaders of Congress,” said the head of the BJP at a press conference.
The president of Congress and “the prince of the party” must answer the people, Mr. Prasad said.
In 2010, there were talks of purchasing AgustaWestland helicopters for VVIPs like the president and prime minister at a cost of Rs 3,600 crore, Prasad said.
Two years later, media revealed that bribes were given in the deal, the Union minister said.
Although the UPA-2 government led by Manmohan Singh ordered a CBI investigation, no progress was made until the BJP-led NDA government was formed in May 2014. Arrests were subsequently made. carried out in this case, Mr. Prasad said.
Now, the main defendant in the case, Rajiv Saxena, has mentioned the names of the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, nephew Ratul Puri and son Bakul Nath, as well as the names of other congressional leaders Salman Khurshid and Ahmed Patel in his statements to the police. Direction (ED), he said.
“The BJP demands that the Congress party not remain silent on this serious issue. The nation is awake and listening,” Mr. Prasad said and asked “why do we always get the names of the leaders of Congress whenever a defense agreement is referred to an investigative agency “.
