NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday took out a protest march here demanding resignation of Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over Lalit Modi controversy. The party also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue.
The protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the national capital but when they tried to march towards Parliament, they were stopped by police near Parliament street police station. They also demanded resignation of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde over her alleged involvement in a `206-crore procurement ‘scam’ related to Women and Child Development Department headed by her. The ‘scam’ relates to the purchase of food stuff, dishes, mats and books for tribal students ordered by the department in alleged violation of the rules
The protesters led by Dilip Pandey lashed out at the Prime Minister saying he was “silent” without any reason. “Modiji is silent out of compulsion. Raje has put up a show of strength which has scared Modi,” he alleged. He also said that if Prime Minister doesn’t ensure their resignation, the people of the country would consider that to be an abdication of his duty. “Sushma endorsed Lalit Modi. They (Raje and Sushma) seem to disregard Constitutional provisions with impunity. So they have no right to continue in their posts,” he said.
Several AAP leaders, including MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj and Alka Lamba took part in the protests. Bhardwaj said the party would be relentless in its campaign.
The AAP had been aggressive against Centre after the arrest of its leader and former Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar in a fake degree case. Following Tomar’s arrest, they had also been demanding the resignation of Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani in a case where she had given different information in three different affidavits before the EC.