Amit Shah said Sonia Gandhi should make it clear who received kickbacks in the chopper scam.
Highlights
- BJP Chief dared the Congress Chief to reveal who got kickbacks in scam
- Sonia Gandhi is mentioned in documents taken from middlemen
- Sonia Gandhi yesterday said 'she has done nothing wrong'
BJP chief Amit Shah today said Congress President Sonia Gandhi should make it clear who received bribes in the AgustaWestland chopper scam.
"She should clear who took the money... If she says this much, everything will be clear in front of the people," Mr Shah said.
"You say are not scared of anything. We in the BJP fear the Constitution, rule of law and societal norms," the BJP president said, daring the Congress chief.
With the BJP making it clear that it will target her in Parliament over alleged corruption in the deal to buy 12 helicopters for use by top politicians, Mrs Gandhi had made a strong statement yesterday.
"I have done nothing wrong. The government is there for two years, an inquiry is there. Why don't they complete it as early as possible...and impartially?" she asked, speaking to reporters.
Mrs Gandhi is named in documents that were reviewed by an Italian court before it decided bribes had been paid to Indians.
The helicopters are manufactured by AgustaWestland, whose parent company is Italian; its top executives were investigated for corruption in Italy.
The Rs 3,600-crore deal for a dozen VVIP choppers was cancelled by India in 2014 after the Italians began investigating it.
Documents related to the negotiations and reviewed by the Italian court refer to "Signora Gandhi" as "the driving force" in seeking the new helicopters and mention her advisors including Ahmed Patel and then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The BJP says this proves that Mrs Gandhi and the party's top leaders were involved in kickbacks.
The Congress retaliated by saying AgustaWestland has not been banned by the new government from bidding for new defence deals.