NEW DELHI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar attacked Congress in Lok Sabha on Friday, saying the party has been implicated in almost every defence scam and that the government is hopeful the AgustaWestland probe will achieve what could not be done in the Bofors case -bringing the real beneficiaries of kickbacks to book.
As he ended his response to a discussion on the controversial chopper deal, Parrikar said, “What we could not do in Bofors, maybe, we will do it in AgustaWestland.“
“Right now, only opportunists who took advantage of a situation (jinhone bahti Ganga mein haath dhoye) are being examined. We have to see where this Ganga will lead us to (ye dekhna hai, ye Ganga ja kahan rahi hai),“ Parrikar told the House during a tempestuous debate that saw Congress deny the charges and finally stage a walkout.
Parrikar came close to naming Congress leaders directly , saying the “other side“ was likely to have made money since the chopper deal was concluded when UPA was in office. “It is basically logical that money has been paid to someone from the other side, not from this side,“ he said.
Expressing shock at the manner in which the tender documents issued to the company's Italian major we re given to the subsidiary, he said, “The impunity shows they thought they will always remain in power.“ A former IAF chief and so me others under investi gation would have got some loose change (“chiller“), or a few grains of offerings (“prasad“) of the kickbacks for the AgustaWestland deal, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said while making it plain that he held the top Congress leadership accountable for the alleged corruption in the defence purchase.
Parrikar argued that UPA's decisions to order a pro UPA's decisions to order a probe and begin the process of blacklisting were driven by compulsion and were not voluntary . It was only after arrest of Italian firm Finmeccanica chief executive Guiseppe Orsi in 2013 did then defence minister A K Antony send AgustaWestland papers to CBI in a hurry . “What I realise from the officers is that he was virtually in a panic. He sent it because he wanted to protect his image. I agree up to a point bechara. But even though he scandal broke in 2012, there had been no move to suspend the contract then.
He defended the Narendra Modi government's decision to exempt certain aspects of Finmeccanica's operations from a blacklisting, saying supplies such as ammunition for naval guns would have been affected. “Because you made money , you agreed. Maybe, which person made it is the question mark...we permitted contracts that have already been signed,“ he said.
The calling attention on the AgustaWestland case saw BJP speakers gunning for Sonia Gandhi and senior opposition leaders though direct references were later expunged by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.