Cong trashes WikiLeaks claim on Rajiv; attacks BJP, Assange

Congress on Monday trashed reports based on WikiLeaks claiming that late Rajiv Gandhi, much before becoming Prime Minister, may have been a facilitator for a Swedish company trying to sell fighter aircraft to India. Making it clear that the allegation against Rajiv Gandhi has no basis whatsoever, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi referred to the last line of the particular cable to emphasise that there was no foundation to the allegation and and accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of "spreading lies and falsehoods." He also urged media not to fall for "temporary gains" and added "we are very hurt with the news" but dismissed questions on whether the party will resort to any legal action into the matter. "Having noted what the Sweden has said, the cable makes the comment that there was no additional information to either refute or confirm the information. The foundation of the whole story falls flat here," he said quoting parts of the cable. Rubbishing the report, Dwivedi said, "Today a reputed newspaper of the country has published a peculiar report. What is a matter of deep regret is that those sections of media, in whose wisdom, most people in the country rely have also now begun to believe in sensational news."