What is the 'secret deal'? After Rafale, Congress questions Centre's clean chit to 'corrupt' Italian aerospace firm

New Delhi: After finding faults with the Rafale fighter jet deal with France, Congress has now accused the ruling BJP of creating a "fake bogey of corruption" in the Agusta Westland VVIP choppers deal. The main opposition party has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government of "shielding, protecting and promoting" Agusta Westland and its parent company Finmeccanica.

The Congress demanded answers from the government over reports of the lifting of a ban on procurement from Finmeccanica company which had been dubbed as corrupt by ruling BJP leaders over the Agusta choppers deal.

The opposition party asked whether the corruption bogey raised by the BJP over the buying of VVIP helicopters during the UPA-II rule was being given a quiet burial. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Agusta which was dubbed as a corrupt company by top BJP leaders has now become clean after being washed in the BJP laundry.

"Earlier Agusta was corrupt, now it is clean after it got washed in the BJP laundry," said Rahul Gandhi in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag "#RIPlogic".

पहले #Augusta भ्रष्ट था,
अब भाजपा लॉन्ड्री में धुलकर साफ़ हो गया!#RIPlogic — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 8, 2021

India had scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland in 2014 for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of kickbacks paid by the firm for securing the deal.

The BJP had at that time attacked the Congress, asking if its leaders had received the alleged Rs 450 crore bribe money for the deal signed during the UPA-II government. Seeking to turn the tables, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Monday asked, "What is the 'secret deal' entered into between Modi Government and Agusta/Finmeccanica?"

Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh in a press conference claimed that it has now been proved that it was the "thief who was raising a hue and cry".

"Is it now ok to deal with a company that Modi ji and his government called 'corrupt- bribe giver-bogus'?" "Does it mean that fake bogey of corruption is being given a quiet burial? The nation awaits answers," Surjewala said in a series of tweets.

"The PM called the company 'corrupt'. HM called the company 'bogus'. Ex Defence Minister accused it of 'bribes and corruption' in Parliament. Then, Modi Government withdrew blacklisting of Agusta/Finmeccanica on 22nd July 2014. Now, lifted procurement ban," he alleged in another tweet while citing the media report.

Vallabh alleged that Prime Minister Modi and his government "are unequivocally guilty of shielding, protecting, and promoting Agusta Westland and its parent company Finmeccanica" and dubbed it as "Operation Cover-up to Save Modi".

"What will happen to the investigation initiated by the Congress government against Agusta/ Finmeccanica? "What will happen to pending Arbitration against Agusta/ Finmeccanica? Is this going to have a loss to the exchequer? As Congress-UPA recovered a total of Rs 2,954 crore (2,068 crore+ 886.50 crore) from Agusta Westland against a payment of Rs 1,620 Crore," Vallabh said.

Surjewala also alleged that the "friends of the media" spent thousands of hours of air time showing leaked documents by the Modi Government and building a "false narrative" against the UPA-Congress in the run-up to 2014 parliamentary elections.

"Will they now dare to question the Modi Government on the 'secret deal' with Augusta," he asked. In 2016, the Italian group Finmeccanica changed its name to Leonardo. Vallabh alleged that PM Modi and his government included 'blacklisted' Agusta Westland as part of 'Make In India' and even permitted it to bid for the purchase of 100 Helicopters for the Indian Navy.

He also alleged that PM Modi and his government lost all the cases against Agusta Westland in international courts and did not file appeals. "The Modi Government is hiding this conspiratorial nexus by unleashing a smear campaign laced with pure falsehood. This is pot calling the kettle black," he alleged.

Vallabh also asked whether it means that the "fake bogey of corruption" created just before the 2019 elections is being given a quiet burial "like what had happened in 2G spectrum Allocation a couple of days back, with Vinod Rai's unconditional apology to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam".

Former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai had recently tendered an unconditional apology to Nirupam for "wrongly mentioning" him as one of the MPs who had pressured him not to name former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation.

Nirupam had filed a defamation case against Rai after the former CAG in his book in 2014 made the allegation against him and repeated it in interviews to the media.