Congress MPs fight over Bofors, wants PAC to take up ‘coffin scam’ of NDA regime

New Delhi: The Bofors gun kickback controversy almost sparked off a major row – albeit politically- in the Congress party when senior Members of Parliament clashed among themselves on the powers vis-a-vis Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
To take the battle to the BJP-led NDA camp, the Congress is now planning to rake up the alleged ‘coffin purchase’ scam during Kargil conflict of 1999 when George Fernandes was at the helm of affairs in the Defence ministry.
“The CAG report in 2004-05 found fault with the NDA government on purchase of funeral caskets.
Around 500 caskets worth $2500 each were purchased and each cost was thirteen times the original amount,” a senior Congress leader told UNI.
The source maintained that the Public Accounts Committee and the sub-committee headed by Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab should also examine the purchase made during ‘Operation Vijay’ in 1999.