BJP attacks Chidambaram over alleged foreign assets, Congress hits back with Rafale deal

BJP compared Chidambaram to ousted PM of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif.

Photo: PTI

New Delhi: BJP Chief Amit Shah attacked Congress leader P Chidambaram over alleged illegal foreign assets. Shah wrote on twitter: "Under the Black Money Act, 4 charge sheets have been filed against P Chidambaram and his family for possessing and operating several illegal assets and accounts in foreign countries. IT estimates illegal assets held by UPA's FM to be to the tune of 3 Bn dollars." Shah further tweeted: "This explains why despite Supreme Court's orders Sonia Gandhi, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh & then FM P Chidambaram dragged their feet on formation of SIT, one of the first decisions taken by Modi govt, to fight Black Money! How could they indict their own selves?" Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman too lashed out at the Congress leader and compared him to ousted Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera held a press conference and refuted all the allegations. He hit back questioning the defence minister's silence on Rafale deal. He said: "The defence minister had asked the defence secretary to make public the rate at which Rafale 36 were purchased, but later she took a U-turn and announced that it is a confidential defence matter." He asked why the Prime Minister is also silent on the scam of 58,000 crore in Rafale deal? He further said "In March 2018, the Indian Army told the parliamentary panel that only 8% of their equipment is state of art and the rest is vintage." Accusing her of not carrying her duties of a defence minister he said: "The Indian Army has told parliamentary panel that they are short of resources. What steps have been taken thereafter for their development? You have allocated just 1.8% of GDP to defence, which is the lowest allocation since 1962." Watch Pawan Khera speaking at press conference: