Leveling a direct and personal allegation that all but ends any prospect of a resolution of the standoff in Pa... Read More

NEW DELHI: Leveling a direct and personal allegation that all but ends any prospect of a resolution of the standoff in Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to reveal the amount of money her family received from controversial ex-IPL chief Lalit Modi .

While Congress president Sonia Gandhi dismissed Swaraj’s emotional defence of her role in Lalitgate as intended to help Modi’s ailing wife as “theatrics”, Rahul launched a no-holds-barred attack. “Sushma should tell the country how much money her family, her daughter and husband got from Modi to keep him out of jail,” he said.

Rahul’s reference to Swaraj’s alleged links with Modi and the suggestion that money played a role in the former cricket czar being issued travel documents in UK takes Congress-BJP hostilities to a new pitch, virtually ruling out the possibility of Parliament functioning next week and passing any significant legislation like the land or GST bills.

The Congress vice president slammed Swaraj’s speech in Lok Sabha on Thursday as “eloquent but hollow.” Lashing out at the minister, Rahul said, “When a theft occurs, two things take place. Whatever happens is in secrecy and there is a financial transfer. What Sushma did was by maintaining secrecy and keeping her ministry in the dark.”

READ ALSO: Sushma Swaraj is an expert in theatrics, Sonia Gandhi says

Responding to Swaraj’s rhetorical poser over whether the Congress chief would have left Modi’s cancer-stricken wife to die by denying her husband travel papers, Sonia said, “Sushma is indulging in drama, she is adept at theatrics ... I would have certainly done my best to help the lady but not by breaking the law.”

In a sarcastic tone, Rahul said as her son, he could tell that Sonia “would not have done the same thing”.

READ ALSO: Voice of opposition being suppressed: Rahul Gandhi

Justifying having told the UK authorities that issuing travel papers to Modi will not affect bilateral ties, Swaraj had said she only responded to the former IPL boss’s plea on the grounds that his wife’s surgery was potentially life threatening. She had asked if Sonia would have acted any differently and left Modi’s wife to die.

The stinging barbs on the last day of the suspension of 25 Congress MPs from Lok Sabha made it plain that Congress will continue its protest in Parliament over the demand that Swaraj and chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan be sacked for Lalitgate and Vyapam scandals. With Congress set to re-enter Lok Sabha on Monday, the script is likely to repeat itself.

READ ALSO: Smriti Irani says 'it's easy to give a byte than to speak in Parliament'

As Congress protested for the fourth day in the Parliament complex with the party brass holding centrestage with loud slogans and clenched fists, Rahul has clearly upped the ante by taking the fight deeper into saffron territory.

The strong words came in the wake of BJP’s threat that Rahul would have to face defamation case if he does not apologise and take back his words against Sushma. The Congress vice-president had earlier said that the foreign minister had done a criminal act. He later repeated that she had broken the law.

