Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has come out all guns blazing against the Congress party's top leadership in the AgustaWestland scam. In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Mr Parrikar said his predecessor AK Antony's hands were tied and he "assisted in wrongdoing."
Here are the highlights of the interview:
A deal of this nature could not have been swung by Former Air Force chief Tyagi alone.
Bofors is 30 years old but the hierarchical set up is the same. The Congress is morally and criminally responsible for the AgustaWestland scam.
Former Defence Minister AK Antony's hands were tied and he was not allowed to function.
The price of helicopters was padded by at least 70 per cent. There must be a strong hand and strong man behind the deal.
Who do you think can influence a deal like that? There are few people in this country.
Field evaluations of the helicopter shouldn't have been done outside India.
I will see to it that there is no witch hunt and future acquisitions aren't affected.
We took two years to take action and there is nothing wrong.
We have saved democracy from the Congress. Congress dismissed my government twice. It has no moral right to talk about 'save democracy.'
The price of the helicopter should not have been more than Rs. 180 crore. We bought the helicopter at Rs. 308 crore. I keep my options to name the strong man who guided the process and benefited from it.
The Congress is so scared that they walked away and didn't even dare to stop the proceedings of the House.
I know who got the money but I don't want to influence investigations.
We are getting same defence equipment purchased earlier cheaper rates.
We want to make Augusta an example.
A K Antony wasn't involved personally but assisted in wrong doing. He was made to change his mind by a strong hand.
Neither the CBI nor ED investigated the case properly in the last government. Italian middlemen couldn't have taken the names that they did unless influence exerted to swing the deal.
