Govt attacks Congress, says UPA did everything to help AgustaWestland bag chopper deal

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar asserted that the govt will recover damages to the tune of 398 million euros

Mounting attack on Congress, the government today said the previous UPA government had "done everything" to help AgustaWestland bag the chopper deal and asserted that the main beneficiaries of the kickbacks will be tracked so that "may be we can do" what "we could not do in Bofors".

In a hard-hitting speech in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the "entire corruption" in the deal took place during the UPA tenure but former Air chief S P Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan are "small people" who "simply washed their hands in a flowing ganga (of corruption)" and that the government will "find out where the river was going".

He said while the decision on the contract was taken in 2010, Tyagi had retired in 2007 and "might have got just a 'chiller' (loose change)".

Amid a walkout by Congress which was pressing for a Supreme Court-monitored probe, he said CBI is "very seriously" investigating the case.

"I hope members are satisfied and members will support government in finding the truth. The truth may lead to many unwanted realism. What we could not do in Bofors, may be we will do it in AgustaWestland," Parrikar said while replying to a debate on the Calling Attention Motion during which he continuously targeted the Congress but deliberately refrained from naming anybody.

He said the UPA government had "done everything" to help AgustaWestland bag the Rs 3600 crore deal for purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters and that its action against the company following the disclosure of corruption was not pro-active but "forced by circumstances".

He asserted that the government will recover damages to the tune of 398 million euros as well as the "bribe".

Referring to the Italian court's recent judgement, Parrikar said with this, the criminal conspiracy has been established and "we will get the documents very fast".

Alleging that the Congress party had close links with Christian Michel, the middleman in the deal, he said the contract was given to a company which had not even participated in the tendering process.

Finding loopholes in the deal, the Defence Minister said the tender was submitted by Italy-based AgustaWestland but the contract was given to the UK-based Agusta Westland International Ltd (AWIL), which was not Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

"I am shocked, how could you accept order from a company who has not given tender? They lost sense of proportion. They thought they will be in power for ever. The smell and sight of Euro was so attractive, so intoxicating that they forgot everything. They should take consultation from Michel on how to cover up and how to do white wash," he said taking a dig at the Congress.

As Congress created uproar and tried to disrupted his speech, he remarked, "Why are you (Congress) concerned? I have not named anybody. You seem to know where the ganga was going.