We will say what we want to, dares Sonia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and Union parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu at BJP parliamentary board meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday (Photo: PTI)
NEW DELHI: With the Congress insistent on the resignations, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday dared that she would name a top Congress leader who was putting pressure on her to issue a diplomatic passport to someone who was an accused in the coal block allocation scam.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, taking a combative line, responded to the threat by saying: “Let them say what they want to, we will speak what we want to.” Meanwhile, amidst the din of Opposition demanding that Ms Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan and MP Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan resign and the treasury benches insisting on a discussion, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury quipped, “Discussion is not substitute for investigation.”
Leader of the House Arun Jaitley countered Mr Yechury to ask: “What law has the external affairs minister violated that should necessitate an investigation?” BSP supremo Mayawati, who had moved an adjournment motion over Lalitgate and Vyapam, reasoned that the minister and CMs should resign. Mr Jaitley then asked the Chair why Ms Mayawati was allowed to speak on a matter that concerned a state government, which was against the established procedure of the House.
Rallying behind Ms Swaraj and two Chief Ministers, the BJP asserted that its leaders had done no wrong and there would be no resignations. The BJP top brass asked party leaders to aggressively “expose” Congress leaders over their “disinformation campaign”. This came at the BJP parliamentary party meet where Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked MPs to be “proud” of the Centre’s work and BJP president Amit Shah told them all states ruled by it were doing “very good work with honesty... We have done no wrong”.
Ms Swaraj told party MPs that she had offered no help to former IPL boss Lalit Modi. “I offered neither any financial benefit to him nor did I help him flee India. I never told the British government to give him travel documents. All I did was to tell them that their decision (on Lalit Modi’s request) will not affect their ties with India,” MoS parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi quoted her as having said. BJP president Amit Shah urged party MPs and workers to strongly counter those with a “distorted mindset”, a dig at the Opposition parties, “who had no real issues”.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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