Mounting his attack on the Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the controversial AgustaWestland Chopper deal, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Friday accused her of misguiding the country by concealing vital facts regarding tempering with the tender conditions to hastily award the order for the VVIP Choppers.
Shah raised key questions about the tender conditions, which he claimed were changed to favour the corrupt. "There was a provision in the chapter no.2 of the tender that only Original Equipment Makers (OEMs) can bid for the tender. In 2012 itself the truth was public that AgustaWestland wasn't an OEM player, still they granted the permission and found it technically qualified. I ask, on whose behest the tempering was done with the provisions of the tender?" asked Shah during a media interaction in Gandhinagar.
Further, the requirement of Field Evaluation Trials of the choppers to be conducted in India was altered and changed to the Company premises. "When any chopper deal is signed, Field Evaluation Trials are conducted in India only. Then why this compromise with the security? The (then) Defence Minister should reveal at whose behest this provision was changed?"
He also alleged that then ruling party had deliberately took longer time to withdraw the tender in spite of knowing the fact that investigation had already started in the corruption allegations in the deal and the Italian media had also started reporting it.
Shah went on to accuse Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party for deliberately misguiding the country by giving false statements on recovery of money. "They said all the bank guarantee funds have been received. But that is not the truth. The truth is that only one part of it has arrived," he said.