Congress alleges deep NaMo-laMo nexus

Upping the ante against the Modi Government, the Congress on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of having a “deep nexus” with former IPl commissioner lalit Modi. The party warned that there would be no transaction of business during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament if External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje are not made to quit. The Congress also wondered why the Government was not making any efforts to bring lalit Modi back to India.  

“I think this (BJP defence of Raje and Swaraj) is a blunder the Prime Minister has done by extending support to these leaders. This cover-up is now going to cost him heavily. The focus will now shift from Swaraj and Raje to the Prime Minister itself. This clearly indicates that whatever help was extended to lalit Modi to stay out of the country and not face law enforcement agencies was with the consent and knowledge of the Prime Minister,” said leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The party also termed as “condemnable” the reported allegations against President Pranab Mukherjee that he, as Finance Minister in the then UPA Government, spearheaded the party’s “revenge” politics against lalit Modi. “Allegations against the President are condemnable. What is the Government doing to bring him backIJ Why has Red Corner notice not been issued to himIJ Why has the Government not approached the Supreme Court to cancel passport issued to lalit ModiIJ” Congress spokesman Meem Afzal said. 

Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh alleged that there is an issue of deep nexus between a proclaimed offender (lalit Modi) and the Prime Minister, the External Affairs Minister, the Rajasthan Chief Minister and the BJP president.  Ramesh said that in 2009, Narendra Modi, who was the then Gujarat CM, became Gujarat Cricket Association’s President and industrialist Gautam Adani was made commercial promoter.

Noting that five years later, the current BJP president was made GCA president while Adani continued to be promoter, he said that this was “not my allegation, facts are available in public domain”. Ramesh claimed that the lalit Modi-Gautam Adani nexus was “seeded” when the Prime Minister was the President of the GCA and “bloomed” when the BJP president took over. Taking a dig at the PM over his silence in the matter, Ramesh remarked “while International Yoga Day is still two days away, the Prime Minister has sat on “lalitasana”, a new “asana” (yogic exercise) in which ears, eyes, mouth and nose-all are closed”.

“Ever since the Chota Modi scam broke out, Bada Modi...is clearly afraid to take decisive action against Swaraj and Raje because he is afraid they will spill the beans and reveal the real truth,” he added.Alleging that the “silence” of the Prime Minister on the issue is a “definite proof” that the BJP’s topmost leadership has “many things to hide”, he said the PM has not been speaking because the “unholy nexus is now surfacing”.

“The Government has got caught in a trap of its own making. The only way out for the PM for the survival of his Government and saving the Monsoon Session of Parliament is resignation of Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje”, he said.Asked what action Congress was seeking against the PM and the BJP chief in view of the alleged nexus with lalit Modi, Ramesh remarked that “as a first step” the resignation of Swaraj and Raje.