Will quit public life if allegations proved, says Ahmed Patel

Congress leader Ahmed Patel on Wednesday declared he would quit public life if there was an “iota of truth” to the allegations made against him in VVIP chopper scam.

“I have never crossed the limits of decency in public life…If there is an iota of truth (in what is being alleged), I will resign from the House and quit public life,” Patel told the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the AgustaWestland controversy.

The BJP has accused Patel of reportedly receiving kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal that was cancelled by the UPA government.

An unusually combative former defence minister A K Antony warned the BJP, particularly Subramanian Swamy, not to threaten the Congress leadership with false allegations. “If you have evidence, prosecute,” Antony said.

“Don’t politicise the issue. You will repent. You will not be able to pinpoint,” said Antony, during whose tenure the deal to purchase 12 helicopters was struck and later scrapped after it became known that middlemen were used by the company.