VARUN: NOT LINKED TO ARMS DEALER

BJP MP Varun Gandhi denied allegations of being linked to an arms dealer and middleman, Abhishek Verma, and leaking defence secrets. Swaraj Abhiyan party leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav without taking his name released letters that accused him of leaking defence secrets when he was members of the Defence Consultative Committee.

Denying the charge, Mr Gandhi said he had last met Verma when he was a post graduate student in London. He said he was 22 then. “I am going to turn 37 now. I have never met him since I entered public life in 2004. The only reason why I even know of him is because his parents were MPs. I knew them as many other leaders knew them,” he said. “Any MP who has been on that panel knows that not even 0.1 per cent of any confidential information is shared with the committee,” Mr Varun added.