AgustaWestland chopper scam rocks Parliament, Congress again: Who said what

New Delhi, Apr 27: Angry exchanges between opposition Congress and ruling BJP members over Subramaniam Swamy seeking to drag Sonia Gandhi's name in the controversial AgustaWestland chopper contract bribery case led to adjournments of the Rajya Sabha.

The naming of Sonia Gandhi led the Congress members to angrily storm into the Well, with a handful even moving closer to the treasury benches menacingly. Members of the treasury benches too got up on their seats to counter the opposition.

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi rejected as "baseless" allegations linking her and party leaders to bribes in the chopper deal and said she is not "afraid" of being "cornered" on the issue.

Here is who all said what on this issue on Wednesday:

Sonia Gandhi:

I am not afraid of anyone cornering me as there is no basis to that. We have nothing to hide. All allegations are baseless. This government is in power for 2 years now, why did they not complete the inquiry?

Ghulam Nabi Azad:

Would like to know whether a meeting took place between two PMs as cited in a newspaper,was a deal struck? When the deal was struck between two prime ministers, pronouncement of judgment had come from that side and subsequently now the Indian government is allowing Italian marines to return home. So that means the deal has been struck.

Arun Jaitley:

"Let me categorically say report in newspaper cited by leader of opposition is false and untrue in its entirety. There was no such meeting," Mr Jaitley said.

Subramanian Swamy, BJP:

Sonia Gandhi received kickbacks, money stashed abroad.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress:

We are ready to discuss AugustaWestland issue in Parliament.

Manmohan Singh, Congress:

There is no case, my party will respond.

Ahmed Patel, Congress:

The Govt is there, agencies are there, then they must investigate.

Rajeev Pratap Rudy, BJP:

Such big name are coming up in AugustaWestland case, even we are surprised. So there is very little to be hidden now anyway, all the facts will be laid out. I am sure Govt will act on it.

AK Antony, Congress:

Last two years this Govt has done nothing. They were sleeping.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP:

Those accused of paying bribes are in jail, but the alleged recipients are blocking the progress of the country. There should be a discussion on the matter so that facts can come out in the open.

OneIndia News