This is the first instance of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal directly naming Sonia Gandhi, which he had refrained from since the row erupted in Parliament.
Emphasising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not consider Sonia Gandhi as his main political opponent, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hinted at a nexus between the two and further dared the former to arrest the Congress president in connection with the AgustaWestland chopper deal case.
Kejriwal said, "An Italian Court has said that bribes were paid in the Agusta Westland deal. That order has Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel's names. Why isn't Modi government probing the matter and arresting them? Police should take them to remand and question them."
"They won't arrest Sonia Gandhi. Modi ji doesn't spare a minute to put his political opponents behind the bars, so it means that Sonia Gandhi is not his political opponent. It has been two years, they have not even questioned Robert Vadra. The nexus between Gandhi family and Modi ji is coming to light now. If you have guts then arrest Sonia ji," he added.
Kejriwal said the investigative agencies would have 'dragged' him to prison, if his name had appeared in the AgustaWestland deal scam instead of Sonia Gandhi. "In case there was my name there instead of Sonia ji, Modi ji would have arrested me immediately. All the agencies would have come to my doorsteps and would have dragged me and arrested me. But they are not doing this to Sonia ji, why?" he said.
Shah had on Thursday asked Sonia Gandhi to come clear in the AgustaWestland controversy and said those in power during the former UPA regime were responsible for it. Continuing his tirade against Gandhi, Shah said it is quite amazing that the flip-flops of the UPA came to the fore when it was in power, adding the same has grabbed eyeballs even now.
On Thursday too, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through his tweets dared BJP to arrest Congress President Sonia Gandhi and other leaders of the party in connection with the deal. He also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the issue.
"I dare BJP 2 arrest Sonia ji n those cong leaders named in Italy court order n interrogate them (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted on Thursday evening and went on to questions BJP's "intentions".
" BJP'll never do it. BJP'S intentions are bad. For five years, BJP will engage in political rhetoric. There is a strong relationship between Congress and BJP," he said in another tweeted.
This is the first instance of Kejriwal directly naming Sonia which he had refrained from since the row erupted in Parliament. He had been demanding the arrest of "all Congress persons" involved in the murky deal. Earlier on Thursday, the AAP chief asked whether those named in Italian court order should not be immediately arrested and interrogated.
"Why is the PM silent on Agusta? First BJP spared Vadra, now protecting entire Congress top brass in Augusta?" the Delhi Chief Minister said on twitter, referring to Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.
He also tweeted, "Shudn't those named in Italy court order be immediately arrested n interrogated? CBI raid had been conducted at me, but why there is no raid at Congress persons (sic)."
In December last year, CBI had raided the office of Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar in connection with an alleged corruption case. Kejriwal had then accused the PM of getting CBI raid conducted at Delhi Secretariat.
The Congress president on Thursday alleged that the NDA Government was indulging in the politics of character assassination and blatant lies over the AgustaWestland chopper deal, while refuting allegations being labelled against her.
The controversial deal to buy VVIP choppers and the alleged bribes paid in clinching it have triggered a political storm after an Italian court "cited handwritten references" to Sonia, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and former Air Chief S P Tyagi by a middleman in a judgement that convicted the helicopter company's chief executive.
James Christian Michel, the accused middleman in the chopper deal, has offered himself up for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Michel told The Hindu from Dubai earlier this week that he was willing to answer all questions from the Indian investigators in order 'to clear' his name, but insisted he had never met the Congress president or a 'single Gandhi' in his life.
Agusta Westland's Rs 3,600 crore contract for supplying 12 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force was scrapped by the UPA government over charges of paying kickbacks to Indian agents. In January 2013, India cancelled the deal and the CBI was assigned to investigate the matter.
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