As the monsoon session of Parliament looked set for a near total washout, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said his party will allow it to run if External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj disclosed how much money her family took from former IPL boss Lalit Modi. The government, however, dubbed the disruptions in Parliament over the issue as only a “pretext” to stall passage of the GST bill.
“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,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The Congress Vice President attacked Swaraj for being “secretly” kind and charitable to Lalit Modi, whom he called a “criminal”.
“We also agree that Parliament must function. But, we have raised a basic issue. We have said, and I have said it three times, Sushma Swaraj ji, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh have carried out in some cases illegal acts. In Madhya Pradesh there are murders happening and our Prime Minister does not feel it necessary to comment on them. He praises the Chief Ministers. He completely ignores the fact that the future of thousands of people in Madhya Pradesh has been destroyed by his Chief Minister. He completely ignores the fact that there is a business relationship between a criminal and his Chief Minister of Rajasthan,” Rahul said as the logjam in Parliament continued over protests by Congress.
Jaitley said Congress was “completely isolated” on the GST bill and “its best endeavour is that since it won’t be able to stop the GST it is definitely trying to delay.” Asked about Rahul Gandhi’s charge that
Lalit Modi had paid money to Swaraj’s family and that she should disclose the transactions, Jaitley said anybody can make such “unfounded” allegations.