Congress demands unconditional apology from Sushma Swaraj for allegations against Rajiv Gandhi

New Delhi: Former Union Minister of Finance, P Chidambaram on Thursday slammed the BJP led- NDA Government, accusing the ruling party leaders of not giving complete information on Lalit-Gate controversy and, hence, demanded an unconditional apology from Sushma Swaraj.

"They did everything except answering crucial questions that arose out of Sushma Swaraj's intervention on behalf of Lalit Modi. If Sushma Swaraj wished to help Lalit Modi on purely humanitarian grounds, why did she not advise him to apply to the Indian High Commission in London for a temporary Indian travel document valid for visiting only Portugal? Why did she think that Lalit Modi deserved to get a British travel document rather than an Indian travel document?", he asked.

"Why did she (Sushma Swaraj) keep her ministry in the dark about her intervention? Sushma Swaraj and Jaitley ji did everything except answering crucial questions that arose out of Sushma Swaraj's intervention on behalf of Lalit Modi. Why are Mr. Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj selectively quoting a few words from letters instead of releasing full text of letters...We demand an apology from Sushma Swaraj," he told the media.

Referring to Sushma's Lok Sabha speech, Chidambaram said, "Instead of debate we got diatribe, instead of dialogue, we got lecture, instead of answers we got a sermon, instead of facts we got fudge."

Earlier, a feisty Sushma Swaraj had trained her guns on the Congress Party, and specifically on its president and vice president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to explain and justify the past alleged misdemeanors of the "First Family" and the party before targeting her on Lalit Gate. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday that the Congress Party's real intention during the Monsoon Session was to not let the country's economy grow and added that they used 'lung power' to try and halt the progress.

"No major legislation was possible. It (Monsoon Session) has been frustrating but educating for the nation. The Congress seems to have the clear policy of hampering any government that isn't their own. This was a disruption without a cause. This session saw many lows," Jaitley told the media.