Rahul Gandhi reply on Agusta issue in Lok Sabha today

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will give a befitting reply to the BJP’s campaign against the party on the AgustaWestland helicopter deal issue in the Lok Sabha, expectedly on Friday.

Besides him, Mr Jyortiraditya Scindia and Mr M. Veerappa Moily will also speak in the Lok Sabha during a debate on it, AICC sources said.

Senior party leader Ahmed Patel had recently pressed for a thorough probe into the deal, declaring that he would quit the Rajya Sabha as well as public life if any allegation against him was proved.

“If anyone proves any wrongdoing by me, I will quit public life and the Rajya Sabha. There should be a thorough investigation carried out into this deal and the guilty should be punished. Bring the truth out... I repeat again, if you can find an iota of truth against me, I will quit public life and resign from this House,” he had said in the Rajya Sabha while participating in the debate on the helicopter controversy. “I have not crossed any limits of public life. This is not my first agni-pareeksha (trial by fire),” he said.

Mr Patel, political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, said the “propaganda” against him was due to baseless allegations to defame his party and its leaders. His name has been dragged into the controversy because the initials “AP” were reportedly found in documents recovered by the Italian authorities in connection with the probe.

The main Opposition has decided to not cooperate with the government inside and outside Parliament and thus is prepared for a full confrontation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.