Whenever you think of kickback in defence deal, think of Congress leaders: BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad

No deal with out a deal and no contract with out a lower has been the coverage of Congress leaders, the BJP mentioned on Tuesday, attacking the opposition social gathering over experiences of kickbacks allegedly acquired by its members within the AgustaWestland chopper deal.

Demanding solutions from the Congress management, senior BJP chief and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that from the Jeep scandal, the Bofors rip-off to the submarine scandal and a number of other extra, Congress leaders for his or her profit made a “mockery” of nationwide safety.

Citing a media report on the important thing accused within the chopper deal mentioning the names of senior Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid and Ahmed Patel, and Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri, he mentioned, “Whenever you think of a kickback in a military deal, think of some Congress leaders.”

“No defence deal without a loot, no defence deal without a kickback and no defence deal without some Congress leaders becoming beneficiary of it has been the go-to policy of Congress leaders,” the BJP chief mentioned at a press convention. The Congress president and “the prince of the party” should reply to the individuals, Prasad mentioned.

In 2010, there have been talks of shopping for AgustaWestland helicopters for VVIPs just like the president and the prime minister at a value of Rs 3,600 crore, Prasad mentioned. Two years later, media experiences revealed that kickbacks had been given within the deal, the Union minister mentioned.

Though the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-2 authorities had ordered a CBI inquiry however no progress was made till the BJP-led NDA authorities was fashioned in May 2014. Thereafter, arrests had been made within the case, Prasad mentioned.

Now, the important thing accused within the case, Rajiv Saxena, has talked about the names of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri and son Bakul Nath, together with names of different Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Ahmed Patel in his statements earlier than the Enforcement Directorate (ED), he mentioned.

“The BJP demands that the Congress party not maintain silence on this grave issue. The nation is awake and listening,” Prasad mentioned and requested “why do we always get names of Congress leaders whenever a defence deal is referred to an investigative agency”.