Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu has said the investigation into the AgustaWestland scandal has thrown the Congress into a state of panic.
He was addressing ‘Porinte Pooram’, a meet-the-press programme organised by the Thrissur Press Club on Saturday.
Responding to former Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s demand to speed up the investigation into the scam, Mr. Naidu asked what he was doing during the two years when his government was in power.
“We won’t disappointment him. We will speed up the investigation. The CBI is doing the job. Now they want a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe. When they were ruling they didn’t seek monitoring by the SC,” Mr. Naidu said.
Alleging that the ‘save democracy rally’ was a bid to divert people’s attention from the chopper deal, he said the Congress was making people to suspect that it was hiding something. Democracy and the Congress could not go together, he said.
“It killed democracy hundred times by dismissing democratically elected governments. It imposed emergency. It curtailed fundamental rights. It superseded judges. It misused the CBI and the IB,” Mr. Naidu said.
“The Congress is crying foul. Instead of explaining to the people, they are trying to attack us. The identity of the beneficiaries cannot be camouflaged in a political controversy,” he added.
“The Agusta scandal was brought out by the media. The names were brought out by the Italian court. Then why the Congress is criticising the BJP.”
‘Murky deals’
Terming former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr. Antony as “Mr. Clean No1 and Mr. Clean No 2”, he alleged all murky deals happened under them. “They failed in their responsibilities,” Mr. Naidu said.
Reacting to Mr. Antony’s demand to blacklist AgustaWestland, Mr. Naidu said the company had already been blacklisted and would not be on the ‘Make in India’ list.
Rape case
He asked why Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi did not call on relatives of the Perumbavoor rape victim. “Is it because his party is ruling here. He twice visited Hyderabad when a Dalit boy committed suicide.”
The BJP is seeking votes for a better change in Kerala, he said. The BJP would not only open its account in the State and the number of seats would be in double figures, Mr. Naidu added.
