Ludicrous to suggest I was blackmailed:Varun

NEW DELHI: BJP's Sultanpur MP Varun Gandhi, caught in a controversy for allegedly leaking defence secrets after being honeytrapped by controversial arms dealer Abhishek Verma, has rejected the charges against him as “frivolous“ and has threatened legal action against those who sought to tarnish his reputation. He also questioned the timing of the allegations.
Varun issued a detailed statement on Saturday rebutting all allegations and insisting there was “no grain of truth“ in them.He said he had not attended a single meeting of the defence consultative committee and very few of the standing committee on defence of which he was a member since 2009. “As a first-time MP of the opposition party , I could not have had any access to any confidential information,“ he said.
“I was neither actively seeking out nor passing on any information. Had there been any hidden agenda or motivation as alleged... it would have reflected in my attendance... I wo uld like to point out the false and frivolous nature of its (letter's) charges, and the impossibility of these allegations.“
“I have never met Edmonds Allen... Nor do I have any details of who he is... except as has been reported in the press,“ Varun said in the statement.
“It is ludicrous to suggest that I was ever blackmailed as I had done nothing wrong. It is even more bizarre to claim that I leaked top secret defence information from the defence parliamentary committee when every MP is well aware that no sensitive defence information is shared with such a parliamentary panel.“
Varun said he met Verma as a college student in England.