Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday of attacking his father Rajiv Gandhi despite the judiciary having cleared his name.
"The judicial system of India has said that this was nothing but a campaign against Rajiv Gandhi. Despite the fact that the judiciary had cleared Rajiv Gandhi, the BJP has been repeatedly raking up the issue for the last 30 years," Rahul said.
The Congress leader was protesting against the Lalit Modi issue and the multi-crore Vyapam admission and recruitment scam near the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex after both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die, marking the end to an unproductive monsoon session that was marred by repeated disruptions and ruckus.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress leader was protesting against the Lalit Modi issue and the multi-crore Vyapam admission and recruitment scam near the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament complex after both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die, marking the end to an unproductive monsoon session that was marred by repeated disruptions and ruckus.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had reacted with jibes at the Gandhi family against the opposition demands for her resignation over the Lalit Modi controversy.
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Swaraj had insisted she had not misused her office to help the former cricket magnate and, in a biting retort, pointed to the Bofors scandal of the 1980s in which former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and several other Congress politicians were implicated for allegedly receiving kickbacks.
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi hit back, saying, "Swaraj and (finance minister Arun) Jaitley defended black money network in Parliament yesterday (Wednesday) but Lalit Modi is the biggest link between the political and black money system".
Jaitley had described the Congress vice-president as "an expert without knowledge."
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who had initiated a debate on the Lalit Modi issue in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, too attacked Jaitley for defending Lalit Modi.
"Jaitley sahab was defending Lalit Modi like a lawyer in a court," said Kharge.
The Congress vice-president also dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring former IPL boss Lalit Modi back to India, saying that he will continue to attack the PM who is running away from a debate.
"After we lost the election, I thought (PM Modi) had it in him, but now we know, he doesn't have the guts," Gandhi told reporters on Thursday outside Parliament.
"We have realised PM Modi gets scared. We will apply full pressure on the government to bring back Lalit Modi. I have been telling Modiji that it is a great opportunity to bring Lalit Modi back and clean up the corruption in cricket," said Gandhi.
The Congress had stalled business in Parliament throughout the session calling for the resignation of foreign minister and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje for allegedly helping former IPL chief Lalit Modi get UK travel documents. It also wants the ouster of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scandal.
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