The BJP lost no time in attacking the Congress with Union Minister Prakash Javadekar saying the “revelations point towards the ‘family’. However, the ED’s contentions and Javadekar’s claims were trashed by the Congress with senior party leader Anand Sharma saying the Modi Government is guilty of a malicious propaganda.
Javadekar said the truth is coming out of the probe into the alleged corruption in purchase of VVIP choppers during the UPA Government, and that Michel’s comments point towards one family. “The story of loot of public money is coming out. Everything went to one family,” he alleged, accusing the Congress of compromising with national security during its rule.
He claimed Michel has made reference to “Mrs Gandhi”, “son of Italian lady”, “big man”, “R” and added, “This all points to only one family”. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said it should answer who all Michel was referring to and claimed that people know of one “R”, a reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had torn an Ordinance of the Manmohan Singh Government.
Referring to Rahul’s attack on the Narendra Modi Government over the Rafale deal, Javadekar described it as a case of “thief making noises” and claimed Michel has also spoken about the public sector firm, HAL being removed from the Rafale contract during the UPA rule.
But the Congress accused the BJP-led Government of using its agencies to put pressure on Michel to name a particular family as elections were near and it had no real issues. “I have never heard anything more absurd than what I have heard today and that too coming from ED as claimed before a court,” said Sharma.
Congress spokesperson RPN Singh said: “We have seen what the BJP has been doing in this matter. In fact, one of the television channels showed how there is pressure on Christian to name a particular family.”
On the ED’s claim that Michel had spoken about the “son of an Italian lady” and how he was going to become the next Prime Minister of the country, Singh said, “The BJP scriptwriters are working overtime.”
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter jets deal, Singh said action should be taken against him as there was “complete proof”. He alleged that the Modi dispensation was “trying to pressure Government agencies to name a person”.
