Parrikar asks `Who took the bribe' in chopper deal as Cong beats around the bush

While the Congress is beating around the bush on the AgustWestland chopper deal, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday asked a pointed question: `Who took the bribes' in the deal? The deal was entertained and cancelled in the Congress regime of Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh, as reports of corruption surfaced in Italy. Parrikar boiled the question down to: `The biggest question is who took the bribe? That has to be answered by the previous government.' The equivalent of the Italian High Court clearly said that the Indian political corruption was worth 15.8 million euros (Rs 125 crore). `They (the Italians) have also taken some names,' the Defence Minister said while inaugurating a war memorial in Dehra Dun. The Congress was beating around the bush by asking such irrelevant questions as, Why was the tainted AgustWestland allowed to take part in `Make in India' campaign? It knows the answer very well. AgustWestaland deal was worth Rs 3600 crore for supplying 12 VVIP helicopters for plying by the Indian Air Force under the UPA government. The deal was scrapped after the corruption was detecteed and some company bosses were arrested in Italy. On the Indian side, the dealers mentioned Signora Sonia Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed patel and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the beneficiaries of the kickbacks. The case of corruption on the Indian side is being pursued by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate.