New Delhi, Jul 31 (PTI) Days after the conviction of NDA ally Jaya Jaitly in a defence scam during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure, the Congress on Friday said the "Operation Westend" case has highlighted the need to thoroughly investigate the Rafale deal.

Jaitly was president of the Samta Party, an ally of the NDA, when Vajpayee was the prime minister.

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Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said that the "conviction proves that BJP and its partners are not 'corruption free' but 'investigation free' and the truth surrounding the Rafale deal is not what the BJP says, but needs to be thoroughly investigated by an independent agency."

"The BJP president and the prime minister owe an apology and an explanation to the nation for NDA-BJP leadership's pivotal and instrumental role in hoodwinking the nation," he said at a virtual press conference.

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He alleged that the court conviction in "Operation Westend" case has "exposed the NDA-BJP's corruption, commission and conspiracy approach towards defence deals post".

There was no comments from the BJP on the charges made by the Congress.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)