Sonia Gandhi should be questioned in food-for-oil scam: Advani

Mumbai, Apr 10 (UNI) Firing a fresh salvo at Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader L K Advani today demanded that she be ''questioned'' for her party's role in the controversial 'oil-for-food ' scam.

Mr Advani, who arrived here from Gujarat on the second leg of his Bharat Suraksha Yatra, told mediapersons here that the latest revelations of the Volcker report show that the ''taint is spreading far beyond former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh.'' Ms Gandhi owes an explanation to the nation on whether Mr Singh had written letters to the Iraqi authorities ''without her consent and prior knowledge'' and why she has still not broken her silence on the issue, even as Congress party has also been separately mentioned in the Volcker report as a ''non-contractual beneficiary'' in Iraq's food-for-oil scam, he said.

''Is it because the Congress, having made Mr Singh a scapegoat, wants to put a lid on its own involvement in the scandal?'' he asked.

The BJP leader demanded that the investigating agencies should question the Congress chief in the course of their probe. The findings of Enforcement Directorate and Pathak Commission should be made known to the people, he noted.

A case must be filed against Mr Singh and the Congress by CBI under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and Prevention of Corruption Act, Mr Advani said and added that this will enable the central probing agency to pursue with foreign governments, the tracking of money trail and pinpointing the end-beneficiaries.

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