Congress should wait for AgustaWestland probe to complete: Naidu

With Congress creating a storm in Parliament over the Prime Minister’s charge that an Italian court had named Sonia Gandhi in AgustaWestland case, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said Narendra Modi has done nothing wrong and the party should wait for the inquiry to complete.

With Congress creating a storm in Parliament over the Prime Minister’s charge that an Italian court had named Sonia Gandhi in AgustaWestland case, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said Narendra Modi has done nothing wrong and the party should wait for the inquiry to complete.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu talks with the media at the Parliament House.(Sonu Mehta/HT File Photo)

“The Prime Minister has done nothing wrong. He has addressed a public function and there he said what was already in the public domain, what was there in the court observation also,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said outside Parliament after the disruptions in Rajya Sabha over Modi’s remarks in the chopper deal scam.

Congress created pandemonium in Rajya Sabha, forcing repeated adjournments in the House over Modi’s allegation at a poll rally that the Italian court had named Gandhi in the AgustaWestland chopper bribery case.

Asked whether Modi would respond over the issue, Naidu said, “What is there to answer? They (Congress) have everything to answer. Inquiry is on and let it be completed.”

On the Prime Minister taking names, Naidu said, “He has not taken any name. He mentioned only those names that appeared in the part of the judgement or annexures to the judgement.”

He further said, “There is no need for clarification. The Prime Minister only said whatever was in the facts. No one took name. If anybody has taken name then Congress member Abhishek Singhvi has taken the name. We have not taken any name.”

Attacking Congress, he said, “They are trying to disrupt the House unnecessarily. Now, it has become their habit to disrupt the House somehow or other by creating obstruction and diverting the issue.”

Minister of State Jitendra Singh said, “The issues which were taken up outside Parliament, cannot be taken up inside the House. Whatever was said at the rally can be answered at rally only. They are unable to answer inside and outside that is why they are resorting to such tactics.”

The Rajya Sabha saw four adjournments in the first two hours because of the continued uproar and sloganeering by Congress members, leading to washout of the Zero Hour and Question Hour.

In the Lok Sabha too, the issue generated heat soon after it assembled for the day with Congress members raising the matter.

The Congress questioned how Modi could make such allegations when Defence Minister had not stated this in his reply to debates on the controversy in both the Houses last week.