L K Advani says sorry to Sonia for Swiss account insult

Report by BJP-appointed taskforce had alleged Sonia,late husband Rajiv Gandhi had Swiss accounts.

Senior BJP leader L K Advani has apologised to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for a party-appointed taskforce report,which had alleged that she and her late husband Rajiv had accounts in Swiss banks.

BJP had appointed the taskforce on unravelling the amount of black money stashed by Indians in foreign banks and ways to bring it back.

The report had alleged that Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were among Indians who held Swiss bank accounts.

This had led Sonia Gandhi to write a letter to Advani denying the allegation.

Sources said Gandhi had said neither she nor her husband held Swiss bank accounts.

In his reply to the Congress President’s letter,Advani expressed regret that Rajiv and Sonia’s name were mentioned in the report.

Advani,however,also stated in his reply that the Gandhis should have denied this publicly when there were murmurs that names of her family members could figure in the report.

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Advani said the name of her family members would not have then figured in the taskforce report.

The four-member taskforce comprising S Gurumurthy,former IB director Ajit Doval,Professor R Vadiyanathan and advocate Mahesh Jethmalani,has put the figure of money stashed in safe havens to be Rs 25 lakh crore.

On February 1,NDA leaders released the booklet ‘Indian Black Money Abroad in Secret Banks and Tax Havens’,the second report of the taskforce appointed by the BJP.

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