Armed with Jaya Jaitly conviction, Congress targets BJP on Rafale ‘Operation Westend’ case highlights need to thoroughly probe deal: Cong

New Delhi, July 31: Days after the conviction of NDA ally Jaya Jaitly in a defence scam during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure, the Congress on Friday said the “Operation Westend” case has highlighted the need to thoroughly investigate the Rafale deal.

Jaitly was president of the Samta Party, an ally of the NDA, when Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said that the “conviction proves that BJP and its partners are not ‘corruption free’ but ‘investigation free’ and the truth surrounding the Rafale deal is not what the BJP says, but needs to be thoroughly investigated by an independent agency.”

“The BJP president and the Prime Minister owe an apology and an explanation to the nation for NDA-BJP leadership's pivotal and instrumental role in hoodwinking the nation,” he said at a virtual press conference.

He alleged that the court conviction in “Operation Westend” case has “exposed the NDA-BJP's corruption, commission

Jaiveer Shergill

and conspiracy approach towards defence deals post”.

Earlier this week, Jaitly was convicted in the “Operation Westend” case relating to the purchase of Hand Held Thermal Imagers in which she was caught on camera accepting bribes while sitting at the residence of the then Defence Minister George Fernandes.

Fernandes was a leader of the Samata Party of which Jaitly was the President. Mr Shergill recalled that former BJP President Bangaru Laxman was convicted by a CBI court in 2012 for accepting bribes while sitting in BJP oice.

There was no comments from the BJP on the charges made by the Congress.