The Congress has been accusing the BJP government of being vindictive and revengeful over the AgustaWestland chopper scam. The Congress feels cornered after the BJP forced senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel to appear on national television to defend himself. Patel has said on the AgustaWestland scam, "If I am guilty, let them hang me."

In the aftermath of  Ahmed Patel's TV appearance, the BJP got into its groove and said if Patel, a close confidante of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is not afraid why should he call up journalists and give bytes?  "That shows, 'daal me kuch kala hai', the BJP said briefing its spokespersons today to focus on point during tonight's TV debates.


Union Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley on Thursday briefed spokespersons backed with data on how the BJP government from the day 1 of its assuming office began to blacklist AgustaWestland. The fact that Jaitley was briefly Defence Minister before Manohar Parrikar took over, helps.


In fact, it is Jaitley who takes a daily 'pathshala' for BJP spokespersons to articulate points during press meets. This class is from 1-1:30 pm inside Parliament House while the House is in session. There are at least 15-20 spokespersons at the classroom every day.