Wednesday, March 22 2006 10:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Congress yesterday(Mar 21,2006) sought to turn the tables on the BJP-led NDA on the issue of Scorpene-submarine deal by demanding an inquiry into how its erstwhile government had agreed to give Rs 313 crore more to the French company for the deal.

"When the Congress-led UPA came to power, it brought down the costs by Rs 313 crore than the one agreed to by the NDA Government in which George Fernandes was the Defence Minister. This needs to be probed", party spokesman Rajeev Shukla told reporters.

He said BJP leaders L K Advani and Jaswant Singh as also Fernandes owed an explanation to the country in the matter.

Asserting that there was 'not an iota of evidence' with the opposition of any wrongdoing, he said Abhishek Verma, who is in the eye of a storm in the wake of the charges, had 'nothing to do with the Congress party'.

His statement came hours after Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in a statement in Parliament, rejected allegations of middlemen and kickbacks in the deal.

The issue could come up for discussion in the Lok Sabha today(Mar 22,2006) as BJP has given a notice for a debate, Parliament sources said.