‘1st or last family’, will spare no one if guilty: Manohar Parrikar

Ramping up the attack against the Gandhi family on the AgustaWestland issue, defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said the government will not hesitate to take action against them if they are proven guilty, asserting no one is above law, whether it is the “first or the last family”.

He also took a dig at Arvind Kejriwal for his remarks that the Modi government does not have “enough courage” to arrest Sonia Gandhi, saying the Delhi chief minister was feeling left out because he did not get any media attention for the last 10 ten days when the focus was on the VVIP helicopter scam.

“I feel no one is above the law. So, whether it is the last family or the first, I don’t see any reason why anyone should be given differential treatment, provided you have proper legal evidence,” he told PTI while replying to a query on whether the Centre could take on the Gandhi family, which is often referred to as the first family of Indian politics.

The minister, while referring to his statement in which he hoped to do what could not be done in the Bofors case, said, “We have the intention and seriousness and I will ensure that proper and good attempts are made.”

Mr Parrikar said former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi and Gautam Khaitan are “small people” who “simply washed their hands in the flowing Ganga (of corruption)”, the government will “find out where the river was going”.

He further trashed Mr Kejriwal’s outburst that the PM does not have “enough courage” to arrest Sonia Gandhi and that the BJP and Congress have an “alliance in corruption”. “It is just a publicity stunt. Kejriwal was jumping to the fray to get attention. For the last 10 days, picture of Prime Minister Modi, Sonia Gandhi for wrong reasons, and at times mine were appearing in the media. To stay dry without publicity for ten days is a big thing for him (Kejriwal),” Parrikar added.

Kejriwal had alleged, “The Italian Court order also has names of Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, certain officers and Congressmen, but Modi is not able to gather enough courage to arrest Sonia Gandhi, to ask her even two questions, to interrogate her.”