AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam: Speed up inquiry, Congress tells BJP govt

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday asked the Narendra Modi government to complete the chopper deal probe on a "war footing", punish the guilty instead of using "lies and unsubstantiated allegations" to malign rivals, and explain why it had allowed a "corrupt and banned" company to do business in India. Far from being rattled by the BJP's decision to target Sonia Gandhi, the Congress threatened to "expose the deal" the Modi government struck with Finmeccanica and its subsidiaries instead of punishing them for violating an integrity pact against corrupt practices. "We will not leave (spare) this government. They will have to answer for the criminal negligence in pursuing the CBI investigation. They were sleeping for two years and instead tried to find solutions for bringing back the corrupt company to participate in defence deals," former defence minister A.K. Antony said at a party news conference.

Sonia Gandhi also spoke on the controversy, asserting that she was not afraid of the "baseless allegations". "I have done nothing wrong. The government is there for two years, an inquiry is there. Why don't they complete it as early as possible... and impartially? It is part of their strategy of character assassination. Finish the inquiry and let the truth come out," the Congress president said outside Parliament. At a Congress strategy committee meeting during the day, Sonia asked the party to confront the BJP. Her political secretary Ahmed Patel said: "Hang me if there is an iota of evidence. We unequivocally reject their allegations. We shall go all out to expose their hollow claims." Patel posted a series of tweets later. "Those uncorroborated notes which are part of the judgment annexure have been in public domain for two years. Why the BJP Government failed to verify it? Fact is, once again the BJP makes a poor attempt to spin a web of deceit. They have been in power for two years, why are they crying foul now?" Told that the names of some Congress leaders had cropped up in the row, including Sonia's, Antony said: "Baseless... during the cross-examination of witnesses, nobody took these names. The Government of India, through its representatives, participated in all the hearings in the Milan court in Italy. The entire record of proceedings is available with the government. Let them conduct the investigation on a war footing and take action." Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dismissed the BJP's allegations saying: "There is no case. Party will respond." Congress communications chief Randeep Surjewala alleged "a criminal conspiracy to shield a corrupt company and its subsidiaries". "We had offered a probe by a joint parliamentary committee when this matter came up first but the then leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and current finance minister didn't agree," Surjewala said, referring to Arun Jaitley. Surjewala added: "The Congress government had debarred any commercial transaction with Finmeccanica and initiated the process of blacklisting. What is the most intriguing part of the conspiracy is the undisclosed reason for permitting a blacklisted company to get clearances from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board and permit its entry as partner or sub-contractor to various Indian corporates." Surjewala recalled that the UPA government had started proceedings for encashment of securities/bank guarantees and recovered Rs 2,068 crore against payment of Rs 1,620 crore - more than India paid for the choppers. "Soon after assuming office, the Modi government sought an opinion from the attorney-general on Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland. They were cleared despite CBI and ED objections to become part of Make in India programme."