Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday insisted that his party will allow Parliament to function only after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj discloses her family’s financial transactions with former IPl Commissioner lalit Modi. The Congress opened a new front in the lalitgate with former Union Minister Kapil Sibal linking the Prime Minister and BJP president Amit Shah to the ex-IPl chief, who favoured industrialist Gautam Adani, known to be close to Narendra Modi.
The Congress vice-president attacked Swaraj for being “secretly” kind and charitable to lalit Modi, whom he termed as a criminal, and asked her to tell the country how much money she and her family “have received” in their bank accounts from the former IPl chief.
“We too agree that Parliament must function. But, we have raised a basic issue. We have said, and I have said it three times, Sushma Swarajji, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, and the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh have carried out illegal acts. Instead of taking action against the CMs, the PM is praising them,” Rahul said outside Parliament.
Rahul was referring to Modi’s rally in Gaya, where he had said Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have come out of BIMARU category under BJP Chief Ministers and were moving fast on the path of development.
The Congress vice-president said he has asked a specific question to Swaraj that there are financial transfers that have taken place between lalit Modi, who is a criminal wanted by different agencies, and her family.
“Please explain to the country and the people of India, how much money of lalit Modi has come into your bank account and that of your family. Please simply disclose this and the House will function,” he said. Asked if Congress was isolated in Parliament due to its protests, he said, “We are not isolated”.
Sibal alleged that lalit Modi had tried to help two industrialists, one of whom was from Gujarat, in getting them an IPl franchise when Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were president and vice-president of the Gujarat Cricket Association in 2009.
Sibal alleged that lalit Modi had rigged the tender conditions to favour the industrialists. He claimed that an inquiry committee under Arun Jaitley had held that the objective of lalit Modi was to “restrict the number of bidders to favour Videocon and Adani groups”.
In support of his allegations, Sibal furnished what he claimed was an email sent by lalit Modi in 2009 to an official of the Rajasthan Royals IPl franchise, promising that he was “very close” to Modi, who was then Gujarat Chief Minister.
“Shantanu Chari of Rajasthan Royals wrote to lalit Modi, saying they wanted to work out a key relationship. Same day, lalit Modi replied, ‘I’m meeting Narendra Modi on Sunday. They will do what is needed. He is very close to me,” Sibal read out from an email copy. lalit Modi is wanted in India in corruption cases related to the IPl that he launched.
The Congress leader also shared with media several dates, alleging that the then Gujarat Chief Minister and his close aide Amit Shah as the president and vice-president of the Gujarat cricket association also facilitated a meeting between lalit Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani. “Modi-Modi ki jugalbandi ka raaz kya hai (what is the secret behind the Modi-Modi nexus)IJ” asked Sibal. Reacting to the charge levelled by Sibal, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said Congress was resorting to “sensationalism” by levelling such “untrue, baseless and unfounded” allegations.