BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s writ runs in the ‘humanitarian’ support that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj offered to former IPL chairman Lalit Modi with his travel documents.
“Even if he wanted some favour from the Indian Government as a citizen, he could have approached our Prime Minister. We don’t know whether (Prime Minister) Modi himself gave consent to issue a visa. If it is so, then, he is equally responsible. He should come out and tell the people of this country, who want to know whether this happened with the consent of the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Finance Minister and (Sushma Swaraj) herself. I think it is purely (Prime Minister) Modi’s writ runs. It is only namesake collective responsibility, but the entire show is run by (Prime Minister) Modi,” Kharge told ANI here.
“Where is the need to take a special interest in someone who has charges of involvement in IPL scam and tax evasion? Even the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is after him. And why should Sushma Swaraj’s daughter get acknowledgement of thanks and also Swaraj Kaushal, her husband, who is a lawyer – all this shows that it is a favour given to a particular man who is closely known to them,” he added.
The Congress, which has sharpened its attack against the External Affairs, has sought a clarification from Prime Minister Modi on the entire episode.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had yesterday demanded that Swaraj be sacked from the Union Cabinet in the wake of revelations related to Lalit Modi. Swaraj had on Sunday said she had taken a humanitarian view of Lalit Modi's case since his wife was suffering from cancer.
She further said that British MP Keith Vaz had spoken to her on the same, adding she believes that giving an Indian citizen emergency travel documents' cannot spoil relations between India and the UK. Vaz, who is facing an inquiry in the UK over the role he played in Modi receiving his travel papers, said that he had checked with the Indian Government before taking any action and added that he had received a 'no objection' from New Delhi.