Chopper scandal: BJP attacks Sonia

Hitting back at Sonia Gandhi, BJP today asked the Congress president to use her "old relations" in Italy to find out why an Italian court mentioned her name in AgustaWestland corruption case and said more revelations are on the way.
Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the government will fulfil the Congress chief's demand for a thorough probe whose modalities will be decided once Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has made a statement in Parliament on the issue.
"The truth is that the Italian court documents carry some facts and her name is there. Names of some senior ministers (of UPA government) are also there. She must have some contacts in Italy. She should find out from her old relations why the court gave such order after two years.

"Why the court wrote such things that has created such a big trouble for her in India. If it is vendetta, she should ask the Italian court about it," Rudy, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, told a press conference, making a reference to Gandhi's Italian origin and her today's charge that allegations against her and other Congress leaders are part of a strategy of character assassination.
"She asked what the government did in the last two years. We will do a thorough probe. Whatever you want will happen... More revelations will come," he said sarcastically, adding there is a lot of evidence. The government has nothing to hide, he said.

He also rejected the Congress' charge that the NDA government had removed AgustaWestland from the blacklist and said any government transaction with the company remains banned. "There is no relaxation," he said.

Rudy also hit out at Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad over his remark that the charges against his party leaders may have something to do with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with his Italian counterpart during an UN event last year.
"This is a brazen lie, fabricated and imaginary. Congress is using untruth as its shield to divert attention," he said.
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After Congress questioned what the government had done in the last two years in the VVIP chopper scam probe, BJP said it had taken up the matter of middleman Christian Michel's extradition with the government of the UK after the CBI got a red corner notice against him from the Interpol.
"Congress is fully trapped in the case now. It has looted, cheated and insulted the nation by pocketing commission in a defence deal.
"It's bizarre that those who gave bribe have been arrested but those who accepted it are roaming free in India," party's national secretary Shrikant Sharma alleged.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has been unmasked as her and trusted adviser Ahmed Patel's names have been mentioned in the Italian court's documents, he alleged.
Claiming commission in a defence deal amounted to betraying the nation, he said, the law will take its course and people will not forgive the guilty.