NEW DELHI: With a war of words erupting between the ruling BJP and his party over the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers scam case, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that they have made their position clear on the issue and instead asked the Prime Minister to answer questions related to the controversial Rafale deal.
When quizzed about the alleged link between the Augusta case middleman Christian Michel and some top leaders of Congress party, Rahul said, '' We have made our position very very clear in this matter earlier in a press conference. The Prime Minister should explain why he gave Rs 30,000 crore on Rafale to Mr Anil Ambani.''
Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Hyderabad on #AgustaWestland : Congress party has made its position very very clear in this matter earlier in a press conference. The Prime Minister should explain why he gave Rs 30,000 Crore on Rafale to Mr Anil Ambani. #ChristianMichel pic.twitter.com/4cJC6bPTkJ
— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2018
Rahul made these remarks in Hyderabad where he is campaigning for his party for the December 7 assembly polls.
The response from the Congress chief came hours after the PM made a scathing attack on the main opposition party, claiming that Michel – the alleged middleman in the Augusta deal – had mentioned UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's name in his diary.
Michel's will reveal more secrets during the course of his interrogation, the PM added.
It may be recalled that a Special CBI court on Wednesday sent Michel to a five-day CBI custody.
During the hearing in the special court, the CBI counsel argued that "the investigation is still going on and we need his custody as money was transferred in two Dubai based accounts."
The British national, who is wanted in India in connection with the multi-crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, was extradited to India on the night of Tuesday.
The VVIP choppers deal middleman, who was led by UAE authorities to India, landed in New Delhi late on Tuesday, according to reports.
According to the CBI sources, the operation to extradite the middleman was conducted under the guidance of National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and was coordinated by agency’s in-charge director M Nageswara Rao.
News agency ANI quoted the CBI officials as saying that a team led by the central agency’s Joint Director, A Sai Manohar, was sent to Dubai for the purpose of extraditing Christian Michel.
The Court of Cassation had last month upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited to India.
India officially made the request to the UAE in 2017 for his extradition, based on the criminal investigations conducted in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
