Bofors move to gain 'cheap publicity': Congress

February 03, 2018 20:39

The Congress said today that the move to pursue the Bofors pay-off case was an attempt by the central government to gain "cheap publicity" ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

A day after the CBI filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging a 2005 order of the Delhi high court quashing all charges against accused persons in the politically-sensitive case, AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said that it was "nothing but a move to gain cheap publicity".

The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha alleged that the government had devised a new tactic, under which opposition leaders are "harassed" through various central agencies such as the CBI and the ED, and asserted that they not get bogged down and fight the BJP "with full strength".

"Those who had come to power at that time by linking former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's name with it (the Bofors case) used to show a chit threatening that it had the names of those involved...but they never revealed it even when they were at the helm. Now Bofors is being talked about again. This is nothing but a move to gain cheap publicity," he said.

The Rs 1,437-crore deal between India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered into on March 24, 1986, when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.

Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987, had claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel.

-- PTI

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