Congress rejects 'allegations' on Augusta Westland VVIP chopper scam

"BJP govt unleashed a vicious propaganda on agreement signed btwn Govt of India & AgustaWestland," Congress leader Anand Sharma told media.

"They have alleged corruption and kickbacks. We categorically reject these allegations," he said.

Sharma said: "Decision to alter requirement of helicopter that flies at 6000 meter was taken 2003. Process of altitude change started in NDA government."

The UPA government had canceled contract with Agusta, Sharma said.

"BJP government allowed Agusta to bid for projects in Indian Navy. PM Modi, when he met Italian PM in New York, invited Agusta for Make in India," Sharma said.

He said: "It was UPA that canceled contract with Agusta, we blacklisted the company, we lodged case in Italy, we confiscated helicopters."

The VVIP chopper scam came to the forefront recently after an Italian court reportedly said that the  previous Congress-led UPA government did not share critical documents with investigators.

The deal involved buying 12 choppers for VVIPs when the Congress government was in power.

The BJP, which holds a meeting of its lawmakers every Tuesday, while the parliament is in session, senior leaders apprised the other members from both the houses on issues that the opposition is likely to raise in the next few days.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley  spoke on the legal and political aspects of the Uttarakhand row and the Ishrat Jehan encounter case, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu discussed about the Augusta Wetland helicopter deal.

BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi has given notice for a discussion on the issueof the VVIP choppers in the Lok Sabha.

Forner Air Force Chief, SP Tyagi, who was in charge from 2005-07 when the VVIP choper deal took place, and has been reportedly named in the scam, denied the allegations during a television interview with NDTV.