 "Jyotiraditya Scindia")
A day before the Rajya Sabha is slated to debate the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, the Congress attempted to target the government on the “huge setback” at the UN Arbitration court, which ordered the return of the Italian marines to their home country. “What is the quid pro quo?” demanded Congress spokesperson and chief whip in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia. Accusing Narendra Modi government, Scindia said, the adverse arbitration ruling “confirms the claim that the Modi government has entered into a conspiracy to falsely accuse the Congress leadership in Agusta Westland in return for a weak defence in Italian marines case.”
The Congress said, “Prime facie it appears to be a case deliberately lost... without giving a credible and suitable fight.”
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had earlier attempted to put the government on the mat, quoting a news report in The Hindu, which alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met the Italian PM at the UN in September 2015 and reportedly attempted to cut a deal on the Italian marines issue. The Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had rejected this allegation on the floor of the House.
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An unrelenting Scindia on Tuesday, however, culled out Modi’s tweet from March 31, 2014, where he had targeted Congress President Sonia Gandhi saying, “Italian marines mercilessly killed our fishermen. If Madam is so patriotic, can she tell us in which jail are the marines lodged in?” Hitting back at the BJP in the same vein, Scindia questioned Modi, “If you are so patriotic can you tell the people of Kerala and India that one marine is already in Italy and another, who is not even in jail and staying at the Italian embassy, will soon be escorted to Italy by India because we are settling political scores with the Congress party.”
Discussion on the AgustaWestland deal will be held in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
