Privilege war in RS, Shah targets Sonia Gandhi again on deal

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Apr 29: BJP and Congress today launched a privilege war in Parliament as Amit Shah attacked Sonia Gandhi again asking her to explain a "number of relaxations" given to tainted chopper manufacturer AugustaWestland that he said "compromised" nation's interests.

Targeting Gandhi, he raised questions telling Congress that instead of adopting an attitude of "thief scolding the cop" should feel "ashamed" and "come clean".

Following up on his demand yesterday that Gandhi should name the bribe takers in the Rs.3,600 crore deal, Shah demanded that Gandhi should answer the questions to people of the nation regarding the deal.

The Congress hit back and dared the government to come out with the truth in the deal in the next two months instead of issuing threats and launching a "malicious" campaign.

"If government has the guts, it should come out with truth in the matter in the next two months when the Monsoon session of Parliament will commence", Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.

Subramanian Swamy, who has needled Congress on the issue for the past two days, tabled a breach of privilege notice in the Rajya Sabha against Azad for his statement that the then UPA government had blacklisted Finmeccanica, the parent company of AugustaWestland.

The Congress countered it by giving a similar notice against the defence ministry for making a statement on the deal outside the House when Parliament is in session.

PTI