AgustaWestland deal: Sonia rejects allegations against her

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Apr 27 2016 | 12:42 PM IST
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today rejected as "baseless" allegations linking her and party leaders to bribes in the AgustaWestland chopper deal and said she is not "afraid" of being "cornered" on the issue.
She asked the government what it has been doing in power for the last two years on the issue and demanded that the ongoing inquiry be completed impartially.
"Where are the proofs. They are lying. They are part of a
strategy of character assassination which we have known these people indulge in," Gandhi said.
Referring to the Modi government, Gandhi asked what has it been doing over the last two years.
"The government is there for the last 2 years. What are they doing? Inquiry is there, why don't they complete it? Complete it as soon as possible, impartially," she added.
Gandhi's political secretary and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also rubbished the allegations against him and the party as "absolutely baseless."
"This government, when they are saying all these things outside and inside the Parliament, why can't they investigate," Patel said.
"If there is something against me, they should find out and they should hang me," he said when asked by reporters for his reactions over the allegations.
The comments of Sonia Gandhi and Patel come in the backdrop of BJP move to target the Congress President and other party leaders on the issue of bribes in the AugustaWestland chopper deal during the UPA regime in a bid to corner the main opposition party which has been paralysing Rajya Sabha on the Uttarakhand affair.
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First Published: Apr 27 2016 | 12:42 PM IST

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