NEW DELHI: Congress on Tuesday stuck to its demand for sacking of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for helping Lalit Modi get travel documents, alleging that the "suit boot ki sarkaar" was all out to save a person accused of violations and misappropriation of crores of rupees.
"The BJP, the External Affairs Minister and the whole government have come out to save an accused of the Enforcement Directorate. The suit boot ki sarkar is doing everything to save an economic offender," Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar told reporters here.
Swaraj is in the centre of a controversy for helping Lalit Modi, who is facing charges of misappropriation of funds in IPL and currently staying in London, get documents to travel to Portugal for his wife's medical treatment. She had reasoned that she had helped him on "humanitarian" grounds. |
Sushma Swaraj should be sacked as the External Affairs minister for her "immoral and illegal" work in the Modigate, which was reflected in the email correspondence between her and the former IPL Boss, he alleged.
BJP will have to answer to the people, Kumar said. Taking a dig at Prime Minister, he said that Narendra Modi should speak out on this issue in his next 'Mann ki Baat' address on the All India Radio.
The Congress had on Tuesday charged the entire BJP and the government with "aiding and abetting" Lalit Modi, with "tacit approval" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded explanation from him.
Meanwhile, hitting back at Congress over the row, BJP said the opposition party was "frustrated" and had shown its "complete bankruptcy" by using a "non-issue" to target Sushma Swaraj.
Referring to Congress releasing photos showing Lalit Modi with Swaraj besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Amit Shah, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the picture was five years old when Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and also the head of the state cricket association with Shah being his deputy in the board.
Terming as "baseless" the charges against Swaraj, he said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son and vice-president Rahul Gandhi have been clicked practically with all coal scam accused, 2G (spectrum allocation) scam accused and Aircel-Maxis scam accused," besides those accused of CWG scam.
"They (Congress) are bereft of ideas. They want to make a non-issue an issue which will never become an issue... it shows the complete bankruptcy of Congress," Javadekar told reporters here at the airport.
"Congress has lost the plot and is frustrated because people of the ocuntry have reposed their faith in Modi Government and Congress cannot digest this," he said.
Seeking to turn the tables on Congress, Javadekar said that even its leaders had been spotted with Lalit Modi.
"We have won the faith of poor people. Congress cannot digest this. So they are levelling these charges. They are baseless charges. After Sushma ji's clarification there is no issue at all," he said.