Wednesday, November 16 2005 17:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Bhartiya Janta Party, President L K Advani today welcomed Congress President Sonia Gandhi's categorical assurance that action would be taken against anyone found guilty of receiving payoffs in the Iraqi oil scam even as he demanded a thorough probe into the allegations against senior ruling party leaders contained in the Mitrokhin Papers.

"I am happy to learn that earlier in the day assurances have been given by those who matter that these exposures will be thoroughly probed and the guilty will not be spared", he said addressing The Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here.

Sonia Gandhi had made the remarks at the same venue earlier in the day. "It is a welcome sign. I am happy that they are discussing it", Advani said. He, however, charged the Congress with trying to "sweep beneath the carpet" the charges made in the Mitrokhin Papers.

The BJP Chief said while he could understand the Left reaction to it due to its "ideological affinity", "the ruling party cannot be pardoned. Thorough investigation must be ordered". He recalled that the party had demanded a White Paper on it.

He said the Mitrophin Archives and the Volcker Report highlighted "how vulnerable our political leadership is to the lure of big money. And where these monies come from foreign agencies, the case becomes far worse than ordinary corruption".

Earlier in the day, party spokesman Prakash Javadekar demanded that if Gandhi wanted a "thorough investigation" into the Iraqi oil deals, she should ensure that a criminal case was registered in the matter and the R S Pathak Commission given powers to issue notices under Section 8B.