This is What I Would Have Done: Sonia Gandhi Responds to Sushma Swaraj

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 07, 2015:  Sonia Gandhi has dismissed Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s defence on the Lalit Modi controversy in Parliament yesterday as "theatrics."

"Sushma Swaraj does drama, she is an expert in theatrics," the Congress President said today, leading yet another protest against the suspension from the Lok Sabha of her party’s 25 lawmakers earlier this week.

Ms Swaraj, while making a statement in the Lok Sabha on what is now called "Lalitgate," had said, "Lalit Modi’s wife is innocent, has broken no laws... I want to ask Sonia Gandhi, what would she have done in my place?"

The Foreign Minister told Parliament that she extended no favours for cricket boss Lalit Modi, and that the only assistance she provided was to Lalit Modi’s wife, who is "an Indian citizen and asked for the support of her husband as she travelled to Portugal for treatment for cancer."

The Congress has pledged to disrupt Parliament till Ms Swaraj resigns. No Congress lawmaker, including Mrs Gandhi, was present in the Lok Sabha when Mrs Swaraj made her statement; they are all boycotting House proceedings for the five days that Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has suspended more than half the party’s MPs for.

Last year, Lalit Modi, who left the country in 2010 surrounded by a series of corruption cases, was allowed to accompany his wife from London to a hospital in Portugal. Mrs Swaraj said the only role she played was in informing the UK government that if it chose to give him travel documents, relations with India would not be affected.

Critics say Mrs Swaraj did not disclose her action or involve the Indian High Commission in London of her conversation with UK officials. They also allege a conflict of interest because the minister’s husband and daughter have worked as Lalit Modi’s lawyers.

This session of Parliament has been blocked so far by the Congress which says it wants the removal of Mrs Swaraj and Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for close links to Lalit Modi. The party also wants the resignation of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for a massive job recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh.

 

Courtesy: NDTV