Congress dismisses Wikileaks report naming Rajiv Gandhi in a scandal

08 Apr 2013 Evaluate

The Opposition has questioned the Congress over the latest revelations by US cables WikiLeaks naming late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in a scandal. However, Congress has rejected the WikiLeaks revelation as ‘mere sensation with no substance.’

The US cables call Rajiv Gandhi the main Indian negotiator for a massive aircraft deal for which his family connections were seen as valuable. According to National daily The Hindu findings of the Kissinger cables, which claim that Rajiv Gandhi may have been a middleman for a Swedish Company before he became the Prime Minister.

This was during the 1970s when Swedish company Saab-Scania was trying to sell its Viggen fighter aircraft to India. Incidentally, the Kissinger cables also claims that the defence minister during the NDA regime and firebrand anti-US socialist leader George Fernandes sought CIA funds during the emergency. The Shiv Sena has demanded an answer from Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the allegations.

Further, a controversy over bribes paid in another armed forces deal with a different Swedish company, Bofors, had led to Rajiv Gandhi's and the Congress's defeat in the 1989 elections.

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