Cong, BJP engage in war of words over ED's statement in court

On a day the ED told a court that AgustaWestland case accused Christian Michel had made a reference to "Mrs Gandhi", the Congress Saturday claimed that the government is using the probe agencies to malign the Gandhi family while the BJP said the "truth is coming out".

The Congress also referred to Michel's statement before his extradition that Indian probe agencies were pressuring him to name a member of the Gandhi family and alleged it was a "fixed match".

Party spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said Michel had stated before his extradition "on record in court that he was being pressured to name a member of the Gandhi family and that is what they were planning and have done".

"The motive is clear. What he said is prophecy and this has happened. This is an outright fixed match fraudulently aimed at planting something on the Gandhi family," Vadakkan said.

The BJP seized on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) statement in court that Michel had made a reference to "Mrs Gandhi" and the "son of an Italian lady" during its probe and attacked the Gandhi family, alleging that the truth about it was coming out now.

Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad also hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Prasad accused him of showering Prime Minister Narendra Modi with abuses and asserted that "today is the time for the Gandhi family to explain" following the ED's statement in court.

In a sharp attack, Javadekar told reporters that the statement of Michel, who is accused of being a middleman and is under arrest, points to one family which, he claimed, has now been caught.

"The ED's disclosure in the court has made it clear that truth can no longer be suppressed. The truth about the Congress and Sonia Gandhi and Rahul is coming out before the people. The people will give the Congress a befitting reply," he said.

The country was earlier aware of two words, "family" and "AP", about the VVIP chopper case but Michel has now taken a few more names by referring to "Mrs Gandhi, big man, son of Italian lady, party leader and R", Javadekar said.

Earlier, Congress spokesperson R P N Singh, during a press conference said that in Dubai when journalists had talked to Michel's lawyer, he had given a statement about how government agencies were trying that he name a particular family.

Michel was produced before a special court which extended his ED custody by seven days.

"We have seen what the BJP has been doing in this matter," Singh said.

On the ED's claim that Michel had spoken about the "son of an Italian lady" and how he was going to become the next prime minister of the country, he said, "The BJP scriptwriters are working overtime."
Slamming the government over the issue, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma told reporters, "The Modi government is guilty of a malicious and vicious propaganda."