Youth Congress members protest against union minister Sushma Swaraj outside her residence in New Delhi on Monday (Press Trust of India photo)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sharply attacked by the opposition today over a snowballing controversy over Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj helping controversial former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi gain emergency travel papers in Britain.
Here are 10 developments in the story:
The Congress and the Left have demanded Sushma Swaraj's resignation for helping Lalit Modi secure British travel documents last year in July, when his passport was held by Indian authorities. They have also questioned the prime minister's silence.
"There is only one man running the country and the government, that's Mr Narendra Modi. Mr Modi is standing behind Mr Modi. Mr Modi should sack Sushma Swaraj." Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said, leading his party's attack.
Sushma Swaraj, who met PM Modi over the row on Sunday, says she supported Lalit Modi's request on "humanitarian grounds" so that he could be with his wife for her surgery in Portugal.
The Congress, however, said documents showed that Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz wrote to UK immigration officials that Lalit Modi had to "travel urgently" for a "family wedding abroad and also to accompany his wife who is undergoing cancer treatment."
"Documents show that not just the foreign minister, but the entire BJP government is involved in aiding and abetting a fugitive, perhaps with the tacit approval of the prime minister," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said today, listing "11 questions" for the BJP.
The Congress spokesperson alleged that "Lalit Modi has a relationship with the PM and Amit Shah," and they both must come clean. "Was the PM party to helping a fugitive, money-launderer? If all these facts are correct then the PM has lost the moral ground to continue and has to resign," Mr Surjewala said, producing photographs of Lalit Modi with PM Modi and Sushma Swaraj.
Lalit Modi was removed as chairman of the multi-billion dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2010 over allegations of corruption, for which he is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. Indian authorities revoked Lalit Modi's Indian passport but the Delhi High Court restored it in August, last year. The Congress has questioned why the foreign ministry did not contest the order.
The BJP has strongly supported Sushma Swaraj in the face of conflict of interest allegations; her husband Swaraj Kaushal was Lalit Modi's lawyer for 22 years and her daughter Bansuri has been his lawyer for seven years.
"Rahul Gandhi has said that Modi should sack Sushma Swaraj, we will not dignify that with a comment. Sushma Swaraj has already responded yesterday," union minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Lalit Modi, the man in the middle of the controversy, broke his silence in a series of tweets this evening in which he promised to "get everything out." His lawyer held a press conference alleging a political conspiracy.
Post a comment