Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge speaking in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday
Initiating a debate in the Lok Sabha on "Lalitgate", the controversy that has left parliament paralysed, the Congress today posed seven questions on foreign minister Sushma Swaraj's assistance to tainted cricket moghul Lalit Modi.
But, said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, he wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer his questions and not Ms Swaraj, who sat right opposite in the government benches. The Prime Minister was not present in the House, though sources said he would come to the Lok Sabha some time during the debate.
Mr Kharge attacked the PM for not having "cleared the air" on the scandal. "The Prime Minister has had his ears, eyes and even mouth covered. Had he made things clear, there would not have been such protests," said Mr Kharge, whose party has scripted continuous disruptions of the monsoon session of Parliament that ends tomorrow.
"The PM's silence on this (controversy) proves the links to Lalit Modi are suspicious," the Congressman charged.
He asked why it was the media and not the foreign minister who revealed that she had assured the UK last year that granting travel papers to Lalit Modi would not damage relations between the two countries.
And why the government had not appealed against a court decision last year that saw Lalit Modi's Indian passport being reinstated.
The Congress leader also questioned Ms Swaraj's defence in a statement to Parliament last week that her no-objection to Lalit Modi being allowed to accompany his sick wife to Portugal was intended as assistance "on humanitarian grounds."
"Humanitarian law and humanitarian grounds are not the same," said Mr Kharge and pointed out that the tycoon had travelled out of the UK also to "visit resorts, weddings."
"Did you want to shield someone who committed a 460-crore fraud on so-called humanitarian grounds?" he said.
This morning the foreign minister said she had no objection to a debate on her role in the controversy. "Call it Lalitgate, Modigate, whatever, the discussion must happen," Ms Swaraj said.