Bogus allegations: Congress hits back at Jaitley on VVIP chopper case
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday hit back at Arun Jaitley for making allegations in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers case, saying the Finance Minister is showing immense faith in "diary entries" to level "bogus" charges, even as the BJP is "mute" on Sahara and Yeddy diaries.
Jaitley had said the Congress should answer as to who were referred to as "RG", "AP" and "FAM" in documents cited by the ED in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers case and added that Swiss police had also seized papers carrying similar initials in its raids in connection with the case in 2013.
Hitting back, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted: "Suddenly, FM shows immense faith in 'Diary entries' to make Bogus Allegations! What's good for the goose is good for the gander!"
"Why is PM Modi & BJP silent on Sahara Diaries? Why is PM Modi & BJP mute on Yeddy Diaries? Duplicity & Doublespeak is ingrained in BJP's DNA," he said.
The purported Sahara diaries, which listed alleged pay-offs to politicians, were recovered following raids conducted in November 2014.
The 'Yeddy diaries' refer to former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa's purported diary which the Congress claimed had details of "bribes" paid to BJP leaders.
The BJP had dismissed all such allegations.
The Congress had said on Friday that the ED charge sheet filed in the Agusta case before a Delhi court was a "cheap election stunt" to divert people's attention from the "imminent defeat" of the Modi government in the polls.
Claiming that oral evidence corroborates what was found in the diaries, Jaitley had said the probe agencies began investigation in 2013 when the Congress-led UPA was in power.
According to the ED charge sheet, Michel is understood to have identified the initials "AP" as Ahmed Patel, the senior Congress leader close to the Gandhi family. However, Michel has filed an application in a Delhi court on Friday claiming he has not named anybody in connection with the deal.
Patel on Friday hit out at the government over the Enforcement Directorate charge sheet, saying "baseless and laughable" allegations and "jumlas" are raining this election season.
The ED had told the court on Thursday that Michel and other accused received 42 million euros as kickbacks in the defence deal.
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Bihar has 'failed' on all parameters during 21 years of NDA rule: Tejashwi
Patna (PTI): Launching a frontal attack on the Bihar government, RJD's national working president, Tejashwi Yadav, on Thursday, alleged that the state has "failed" on all parameters during the 21 years of NDA rule.
His remarks came four days ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar on March 16. Six candidates—five from the ruling NDA and one from the RJD are in the fray for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar.
In a post on X on Thursday, Yadav wrote, "The NDA government failed on all parameters despite years of a double-engine government. Bihar continues to rank at the bottom of most development indicators even after 21 years of NDA rule."
"Bihar is a unique state where the NDA's double-engine government has been in power for decades, yet the state still performs poorly across several socio-economic indicators. Bihar is the poorest state in the country, has the highest migration, the highest levels of crime and corruption, the highest unemployment, the highest level of multidimensional poverty and highest school dropout rate in the country, lowest literacy rate in the country, and the state has the lowest per capita income in the country," he wrote.
He further claimed that Bihar is the state where farmers' income is lowest in the country, lowest per capita consumption in the country, lowest computer literacy in the country, lowest electricity consumption in the country, lowest basic infrastructure in the country, lowest quality education in the country and the lowest industrial units in the country.
Yadav, who is also Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, said the state is lagging in almost every development indicator. He accused the government of avoiding accountability while running the administration through bureaucratic control, state resources and caste politics.
Ironically, despite being lowest on all development parameters, Bihar is leading in buying expensive gas, leading in buying expensive electricity, leading in buying expensive petrol-diesel, and here buying property is more expensive than in Delhi and Mumbai, he alleged.
State BJP spokesperson, Neeraj Kumar, refuted the charges levelled by Yadav and told PTI, "RJD leader should have compared the current situation in Bihar with the period between 1990 and 2005 when the state was governed by Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi. The condition improved only after the NDA government led by Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005."
