The Government on Wednesday launched a strong counter to the Congress’ allegations over lalitgate and categorically rejected demands for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over the issue. Defending his Cabinet colleague in the lok Sabha during the debate on Adjournment Motion brought by the Congress, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said Swaraj had been made a “scapegoat of a pretext” to stall reform legislations.
The FM turned the tables on the Congress by attacking the previous UPA Government for its inefficiency in taking concrete steps to bring back former IPl chief lalit Modi. He also defended his party MP Dushyant Singh, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, on this issue. “To create a cloud and say there is a scandal in it, there are many scandals which have been covered up. All these will be taken up, investigated in a fair and honest manner by the agencies and taken to their logical conclusion, not in the manner in which the gentleman in london was investigated prior to May 26, 2014,” Jaitley said.
Jaitely said the Congress-led dispensation was on the “wrong route” on lalit Modi. Recently, the NDA Government issued a red-corner notice against him through Interpol. Comparing the action of his Government to that of the UPA regime, Jaitely said that the previous dispensation had merely issued a light blue-corner notice against him instead of red corner, which is issued within the country by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for a lookout at various domestic airports. “I do not know why a light blue corner notice was issued at airports in Jaipur and Jodhpur against a man who was hiding in london,” Jaitley said.
He added that lalit Modi was not a “fugitive” when Swaraj had spoken to British authorities with regard to his travel documents and had become so only on August 5 when the present Government obtained a warrant from a Mumbai court.
Jaitley argued that the Congress had made “mountain of what was not even a mole hill” by raising “hollow slogans” and ensuring a washout of Parliament Session. “The allegations are baseless...The Government rejects each of these charges and the question of Sushmaji resigning does not arise,” the FM asserted. On the allegations that daughter of Swaraj had represented lalit Modi in a court, he said, she was one in a “crowd” of lawyers representing Modi. Using this as a handle to hit out at Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, he added: “There are still many honest people whose children have to work for a living. For generations, generation of the family who have dominated this country’s politics have not worked for a living. They have learnt the art of living comfortably without working. Some of us are not.”
Taking dig at the Congress vice-president, Jaitley said: “The difficulty with Rahul Gandhi is that he is an expert without knowledge.” Jaitley was referring to a Rahul’s question on whether Swaraj had taken action on a request by a MP seeking help for a convicted Indian languishing in Oman jail. Referring to Rahul’s monkey jibe, Jaitley said: “You are very fond of saying that there were three monkeys but don’t make monkey out of this country. Without an issue you hold up Parliament, you waste a whole Session and the real reason is that you ran a failed and corrupt Government. When things are beginning to look up in India and there is new confidence you somehow want to sabotage the growth story.”