BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Saturday released a two-page statement, rejecting claims that he had been “blackmailed” into leaking classified defence information to arms manufacturers. He said there was not a grain of truth in the claims.
This follows the U.S.-based lawyer C. Edmonds Allen’s claim in a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office last month that the controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma “blackmailed” Mr. Gandhi into sharing sensitive information of the Defence Consultative Committee on crucial military deals.
In his statement, Mr. Gandhi, however, said parliamentary records would show that he had never attended any meeting of the Defence Consultative Committee and very few of the standing committee. “Clearly, I was neither actively seeking out nor passing on any information. Had there been any hidden agenda or motivation as alleged in the letter, it would have been reflected in my attendance,” he said.
As a first-time Opposition MP, he said, he could not and did not have any access to any sensitive defence information. “So, the question of being allegedly coerced into revealing anything does not arise,” Mr. Gandhi said.
In response to the lawyer’s claim of furnishing these details to the CBI and the ED, Mr. Gandhi said: “Had these top agencies [had] the least suspicion or proof of any involvement whatsoever on my part all these years, it would surely have been reported by now.”
‘Family traumatised’Underlining that his family and he had been traumatised by such “lies,” Mr. Gandhi said he would take legal recourse against those who sought to tarnish his reputation. “In public life, one learns to take criticism in one’s stride. However, all criticism must be based on some fact. In this instance, there is not a grain of truth or one shred of evidence.”
Mr. Gandhi recalled that he had known Mr. Verma as a college student in England. “He was introduced as the son of late Smt. Veena and Shri Shrikant Verma, both MPs from a well respected family. We met socially over a short period of time. At no point did we ever discuss work,” he said. “It is...bizarre to claim that I leaked top secret defence information from the defence parliamentary committee when every parliamentarian is well aware that no sensitive defence information is shared with such a panel,” he said.
