The BJP Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Congress' Gandhi family, claiming the ED's statement in a court that alleged middleman Christian Michel made reference to "Mrs Gandhi" and "son of an Italian lady" pointed toward its involvement in the AgustaWestland deal.

It is, however, not clear in what context Michel, who is under arrest, mentioned this to the investigation agency.The Congress has rejected the charge, saying that the central government has been using agencies to implicate the Gandhi family.

Hitting out at the Congress, Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that truth was coming out of the probe into the alleged corruption in purchase of VVIP choppers during the UPA government, and that Michel's comments point towards one family."The story of loot of public money is coming out, Everything went to one family," he alleged, accusing the Congress of compromising with national security during its rule.

He claimed that Michel has made reference to 'Mrs Gandhi', 'son of Italian lady', 'big man', 'R' and added, "This all points to only one family".

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said it should answer who all Michel was referring to and claimed that people know of one 'R', a reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had torn an ordinance of the Manmohan Singh government.

First Published:Dec 29, 2018 8:18 PM IST