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  India   Copter scam: Congress counters Amit Shah with 7 key questions

Copter scam: Congress counters Amit Shah with 7 key questions

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : May 1, 2016, 5:44 am IST
Updated : May 1, 2016, 5:44 am IST

Sharpening its attack on BJP chief Amit Shah, the Congress on Saturday posed seven questions to Mr Shah on the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, saying the BJP and its government’s campaign on it is lik

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala. (Photo: Twitter)
 Congress leader Randeep Surjewala. (Photo: Twitter)

Sharpening its attack on BJP chief Amit Shah, the Congress on Saturday posed seven questions to Mr Shah on the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, saying the BJP and its government’s campaign on it is like “empty vessels making the loudest noise”.

While trashing Mr Shah’s charges against Mrs Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders on the AgustaWestland deal, it termed them as “deliberate lies” and demanded that he apologise for his “politics of deceit” and attempts to create a smokescreen to “befool the people”.

The AICC also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell what connection, if any, his government has with former Air Force Chief S.P. Tyagi, an accused in the copter deal case.

Addressing a press conference, the party’s chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala posed a number of questions to Mr Shah, who has dubbed AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmecanica a “bogus company”.

He asked the BJP chief whether he would ask Modi government as to why it has been “protecting” the same “bogus company” for last two years as CBI and ED investigations have “reached no conclusion”.

“Will Amit Shah and BJP answer the people as to why the same ‘fraud company’ was permitted to be part of Prime Minister’s Make in India programme and participate in Aero India Exhibition ” he said while releasing purportedly related documents.

Besides, he asked Mr Shah to also answer as to why the same “fraud company” was being given permission by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of the Modi government as recently as on October 8, 2015.

“Will Shah also answer as to why the same ‘fraud company’ was given permission to participate in defence contract as a ‘sub-contractor’ as also ‘supplier to a contracting party’ with the Government of India by a order dated 22.08.2014 of the ministry of defence ” he asked.

Mr Surjewala dismissed as a “bundle of lies” Mr Shah’s claim that the bank guarantee of the defaulting company AgustaWestland was not encashed by the previous Congress government. “It is again a bundle of lies, aimed at creating a smokescreen and befool the people of India.

“Will Amit Shah tell the country whether it is a fact that Indian government has recovered an amount of `2,068 crore from AgustaWestland as against payment of `1,620 crore, besides confiscating three helicopters ” he asked.

“Will Amit Shah and BJP government answer whether it is not correct that the then Congress government filed and won the court case leading to encashment of bank guarantees worth euro 2,28,00,00 (228 million) in the court of Milan, Italy, on May 23, 2014 ” he asked.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi