Modi’s conditional apology may prove a trap for the Congress

mangaloretoday.com/ CNN-IBN

New Delhi, Oct 2: Hours after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi waved copies of a bunch of papers carrying an RTI report on Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s foreign tours and the alleged expenditure on her treatment abroad, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman has been forced to climb down after the RTI applicant himself denied the Rs 1880 crore figure that Modi alleged Sonia had spent on her tours.

 

 

"If Modi is referring to my RTI, neither have I received any such information nor have I leaked it to the media or any politician," said Ramesh Verma. Verma’s reply gave the Congress a chance to hit back at Modi, promptly calling him a liar. "Time and again, he has attacked Congress leaders based on untruths and falsehood. You can’t expect a man with that mindset to apologise," said Union minister Kapil Sibal.

But the Congress itself is in a trap now. Modi said that he was ready to apologise if his charges were proved wrong. This means that pressure will now be on Congress to reveal the cost of their party president’s travels.



The Congress, however, has so far refused to answer any RTI query on Sonia. Modi, on the other hand, is unwilling to let go. He has, over the past week, made the Gujarat elections a national issue. He has repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia and her son and Congress General Secretary Rahul.

Sonia is expected to visit Rajkot on October 3. She will be meeting the farmers to counter Modi’s allegations. However, Modi’s latest allegations have put both the BJP and the Congress in a tight spot.