Lalit Modi visa row: Opposition, NDA allies cross swords over Sushma Swaraj
New Delhi: Opposition parties on Monday piled up pressure on the government over Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's help to fugitive former IPL boss Lalit Modi but the beleaguered leader received support from BJP ally Shiv Sena, which said she was being targeted to "destabilise" the Modi dispensation.
Congress, which has sought her resignation, asked the Centre to make public all letters it had written to the UK government on Lalit Modi and insisted that Swaraj's help to him for getting travel documents was a clear case of quid-pro-quo.
Read: Lalit Modi row: Congress attacks Sushma Swaraj’s ‘humanitarian’ move, demands her resignation
"In the interest of transparency, Government of India should release the letters written to the UK Chancellor on the Lalit Modi case", Congress leader P Chidambaram said.
Read: Sushma Swaraj fixed Lalit Modi travel, aided scam-tainted ex-IPL chief get travel papers
Youth Congress members being stopped by the police during their protest against union Minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence in New Delhi (Photo: PTI)
The former Finance Minister had vigorously pursued with the UK government the issue of his deportation to India.
Read: Amid controversy, Sushma Swaraj tweets ‘what benefit did I pass on to him?'
Congress spokesperson P L Punia said Swaraj and Lalit Modi were in contact for long. "As a quid pro quo, Swaraj has done favour to a tainted person who is accused of Rs 700 crore money laundering...," he said terming as "complete bogus" her defense that she helped him on humanitarian ground.
Read: Sushma Swaraj speaks to Modi as opposition demands her resignation
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused the Centre of adopting double standard and questioned its commitment to rule of law going by the manner in which the NDA government, BJP and RSS have put up a united face to defend Swaraj.
"Going by manner in which the NDA government, BJP and RSS have closed ranks to defend Swaraj, it is clear that the BJP has a double standard in enforcement of rule of law against those people it likes and those it does not," he told reporters on the sidelines of Janata Durbar at the chief minister's official residence.
Read: Immigration row: Helped Lalit Modi with UK travel on humanitarian grounds, says Sushma Swaraj
Kumar alleged that in case of dear ones, the BJP goes all out in helping out such people even if they have committed a crime, but strong action is taken against those people it does not like.
Swaraj, however, found strong support from NDA ally Shiv Sena with its spokesperson Sanjay Raut saying she was being targeted to "weaken and destabilise" the Modi government.
"The way the External Affairs Ministry had performed under Swaraj, it has become a strong pillar of the Modi government. She is being targeted to weaken the government and destabilise it," Raut said, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi should see through it.
Read: Sushma Swaraj row: PM should apologise to nation, say opposition parties
Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said the way she had been attacked was "completely unacceptable", claiming that the whole nation knew about her political background and work.
