Congress snaps back at BJP over Radia

After a former associate of Niira Radia revealed that the corporate lobbyist had close ties with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Ananth Kumar, the Congress promptly started crying foul on Friday.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi demanded that the BJP sack the Karnataka leader who was the aviation minister during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime.

“Radia opened a Swiss account into which money was paid on her behalf and of behalf of those ministers in the Civil Aviation sector who helped her get contracts and in turn made money,” Singhvi said.

“BJP’s senior minister and his role with lobbyist stands exposed. Cabinet papers were leaked during BJP’s tenure,” he was quoted as saying.

Reacting to the revelations, BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley said, “The BJP has advised Ananth Kumar to immediately take action against the maker of the allegation.”

Tapped phone conversations of Radia, running in several hundreds, were leaked in the past few weeks exposing sharp findings of the alleged backroom deals of the corporate lobbyist with Indian power brokers.

She is now subject to investigations and has already been quizzed by the Central Bureau of Investigation over her purported role in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.