Parliament Live: PM is scared to act against Lalit Modi, says Rahul Gandhi

Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs to meet at 9:30 am in Parliament on Thursday

NDA floor leaders will also meet in Parliament at 9:45 am on Thursday.

Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) to meet at 9:30 AM in Parliament tomorrow.

— ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2015

LK Advani impressed by Sushma Swaraj’s speech in Lok Sabha

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj got a pat on her back by senior BJP leader LK Advani who was visibly moved by her hard-hitting reply to the Congress charges on the Lalit Modi controversy in Lok Sabha. 

Advani, who has been a witness to several historic debates in Parliament, could not hold back his emotions during the Minister’s speech even as tempers ran high in the House, as Swaraj put up a spirited defence in the face of the accusations against her.

During her 30-minute reply, Advani, seated by Swaraj’s side on the front row of the treasury benches, was seen overcome with emotions on a few occasions when his eyes welled up. – PTI

PM Modi scared to act against Lalit Modi: Rahul

Rahul Gandhi addressed reporters outside the Parliament and basically repeated his rant in Lok Sabha. “Yesterday, Sushma Swaraj held my hand and asked me why I was angry with her. I told her that I was not angry with her. I am talking about an issue honestly,” he said.

Taking a dig at Swaraj’s family, Rahul Gandhi added, “Sushma Swaraj’s daughter is Lalit Modi’s legal counsel. Is taraf maataji, us taraf parivaar.”

“Maataji, parivaar, paisa, permission: This is the link that I want to establish,” Rahul Gandhi said. “I want the PM to throw out the corrupt from his party,” said the Congress vice-president.

“The PM should say that he will fight against corruption. If he does that, the entire country will support him. But if he doesn’t, the youth of India will lose their faith in him…It will be very embarrassing for the PM to come here. Reality is he doesn’t have an answer,” said Rahul Gandhi.

“Right now, PM is standing there and saying, ‘I’m a bit scared to go’, I’m saying as a young leader of India – Go,” said the Congress vice-president.

Is this the way you treat a minister? Venkaiah Naidu asks Congress

Expresssing his appointment on the wastage of the Monsoon Session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu took umbrage to the manner the Congress conducted itself throughout.

“Is this the way you treat a minister? Kharge is such a senior leader and he has so much experience. Is this correct to show so much disrespect to a honest minister? When I called an all-party meeting as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister 28 parties agreed that Parliament should function and all issues should be discussed including Lalit Modi. But the Congress was stubborn on resignation before any discussion,” Naidu said.    

“I thank all the parties apart from our partners who wanted the House to function. Kharge feels only he should be heard and others have no right,” he said.

“My prime minister is the most popular leader in the world today. We have the mandate today. You have the mandate to sit in the Opposition. You may get the chance in 10, 15, 20 years. Have the patience,” Naidu said mocking Congress.

Jaitley takes on Congress, replies on behalf of govt

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley braved the pandemonium in the House to give the reply on behalf of the government.

“Today the whole country was hoping that the step Congress took in seeking an Adjournment Motion would see some reasoning and logic behind it. But the Congress failed to come above empty slogans. They have dug a mountain but a rat came out of it,” Jaitley said.

“The allegations levelled by Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are completely baseless and the government rejects them. We need to see whether we will limit ourselves to mere sloganeering or go deeper into the incident,” the minister said.

“We need to go back to 2009 when the IPL was shifted to South Africa for security reasons as the country was holding its Geheral Elections. However, the money transferred to South Africa for holding the tournament was transferred without RBI permission. Since then the ED has been on the look out for the person whose name has been now coming often in the news,” Jaitley said.

“Instead of giving a Red Corner Notice or a Blue Corner Notice through the Interpol, the then government only issued a Light Blue Corner Notice to airports in Jaipur while looking out for that person. This person has violated FEMA regulations as per the then UPA government,” the Union minister said.

“You follow the wrong path where you cannot arrest him or get him back to the country. FEMA has no such provisions,” Jaitley said criticising the role of the earlier government.

“There are prima facie some cases against him in Chennai under the PMLA Act for which he can be arrested. The ED has very recently approached the Bombay High Court which has now issued a non-bailable warrant against the person. Now he can be physically arrested and deported to India,” he said. “The person concerned was declared a fugitive by television channels and not by a court,” Jaitley said.

“So you make a mountain of something which is not even a molehill. Difficulty with Rahul Gandhi is that he is expert without knowledge,” he said.

“So you make a mountain of something which is not even a molehill. Difficulty with Rahul Gandhi is that he is expert without knowledge,” he said.

“Without an issue which is not an issues you waste a whole session. You somehow want to sabotage the Indian growth story. You talk about centre of black money and this and that but what did your government do in 10 years? Sushmaji is a scapegot of pretext. The real reason is that the Congress wants to derail the GST which would have propelled Indian growth,” Jaitley said.

Rahul Gandhi challenges Sushma Swaraj on humanitarian help claims

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi intervenes amid din in Parliament.

“Can Sushma Swaraj tell us if she has accepted the request made by one gentleman?” Rahul said.

Taking the battle to the BJP camp, Rahul said, “IPL is the centre of black money. Lalit Modi is the symbol of black money. Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have the guts to face the House. So he is not in Parliament.”

“I have heard about lot of humanitarian acts. But Sushma Swaraj is the first humanitarian who does humanitarian acts in hiding. Sushma Swaraj should tell us what benefit her family got because of the commercial transaction as Arun Jaitley said. She should also tell us how much benefit did Lalit Modi get,” Gandhi said.

My party stands behind Sushma Swaraj, says LJP’s Chirag Paswan

Taking on the Opposition, particularly Congress, Lok Janshakti Party MP Chirag Paswan said that the biggest Opposition party exaggerated petty issues in such a way as if the country won’t run without discussing them.

“I have seen umpteen number of videos of Sushmaji speaking and I have learnt a lot from her. In this hour, I and my party stand solidly behind her,” Paswan said.

“We are first timers in the House and people like me came here with great expectations. But the Opposition party has simply stopped the House from functioning,” he said.

There are people who have the power to jump in the Well of the House, we don’t have that power: BJD

“There are people in the House who have the power to jump in the Well of the House and come out unscathed. Our party doesn’t have that power,” BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab said. “I congratulate the people who have such power,” the BJP MP sarcastically said. As expected, after this statement, the Congress leaders began shouting yet again.

Huge uproar erupts in the House after Sushma Swaraj’s speech

As expected from the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge started screaming after Sushma Swaraj’s speech and demanded that rule 352 be invoked against her speech.

In response, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley got up and said, “Khargeji has invoked rule 352. Under that rule, every sentence of his speech will have to be disregarded.”

You gave Lalit Modi right of residency in the UK: Sushma Swaraj tells Congress

Sushma Swaraj also urged Rahul Gandhi to question his mother Sonia on why his father Rajiv Gandhi had a quid pro quo arrangement with the US and why he allowed Warren Anderson to run away to the US.

She then made an emotional remark about how she had been in politics for 38 years. 

“I have been in politics for 38 years. The kind of dignity with thich I have engaged in politics is like a tapasya," she said.

“Lalit Modi got right of residency in the UK when your government was in power,” Sushma Swaraj said. “Why are they demanding answers from me? They themselves are responsible for what they are asking…Congress leadership was divided on Lalit Modi case. One half wanted probe, other half did not.”

“ED, under your government, did not take do any investigation against Lalit Modi,” she said.

“I wanted to speak on this issue to show that these people are the culprits,” Swaraj said. “Khargeji spoke and went away and then left these people to make noise during my speech,” she said as the Congress leaders kept on shouting.

Congress allowed Warren Anderson to escape as part of a quid pro quo arrangement with the US: Sushma

Bringing up the Bhopal gas tragedy, Sushma Swaraj alleged that Congress had allowed the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to escape to the US.

‘Rajiv Gandhi’s childhood friend Adil Shahryar stayed in prison for 35 years," Sushma Swaraj said. “Rajiv Gandhi had allowed Anderson to flee in a quid pro quo arrangement with the US.”

Swaraj then alleged that Congress had allowed Anderson to run away to the US in a quid pro quo arrangement with the US in which Adil Shahryar was released from prison.

She then slammed Rahul Gandhi and advised him to take a holiday. “Rahul Gandhi likes taking holidays. Please take a holiday and read your family history,” Sushma told Rahul Gandhi.

“Rahul Gandhi should read. And when he comes back, he should ask, ‘Mamma, how much money did we take from Quattrochi?’” Swaraj said.

“This is called quid pro quo,” Swaraj said.

Sushma Swaraj then even spelled out quid pro quo in her aggressive speech against the allegations against her.

Rahul Gandhi’s party helped Quattrocchi in running away: Sushma

“Rahul Gandhi said that thieves try to do things in secrecy. I didn’t do anything in secrecy,” Sushma Swaraj said.

Bringing up the Bofors scam once again, she then said that it was Rahul Gandhi’s party who secretly aided Quattrochi in running away.

No conflict of interest in my case: Sushma Swaraj

“Why are they turning a non-issue into an issue? Khargeji said that my family members are Lalit Modi’s lawyers. But my husband was not a lawyer of Lalit Modi in the passport case,” Swaraj said in the Parliament amid uproar by the Opposition.

“My daughter did not take even a single penny from Lalit Modi in this case,” she said.

Swaraj then attacked the Congress and alleged that it was Chidambaram who was involved in conflict of interest.

“I want to tell Opposition members what conflict of interest is. Conflict of interest is when Chidambaram’s wife was made a lawyer from the Ministry Chidambaram was working for. Chidambaram admitted this in the House. And he said he didn’t know about this until he was informed,” she said.

Sushma Swaraj also alleged that Chidambaram’s wife was also involved in the Saradha scam.

I didn’t do anything wrong: Sushma Swaraj

“I didn’t do anything wrong. If helping a woman who has not been involved in any crime is wrong, then I admit I have done something wrong,” Sushma Swaraj said in her statement.

“Giving Lalit Modi travel documents was not under my power. My responsibilities were limited to overseeing the relationship between India and the nation which gave travel documents to Lalit Modi,” Swaraj said.

It seems Congress leaders came prepared with a lot of slogans as ‘Pradhan Mantri Sadan mein aao!’ and ‘Pradhan Mantri jawab do!’ were heard in the House.

‘Mantri ko barkhast karo!’

And as the chaos in the House intensified, the Opposition leaders began shouting slogans of ‘Mantri ko barkhast karo!’

Uproar erupts in the House before Swaraj’s statements

Even as Sushma Swaraj got up to make a statement in the House, Opposition leaders began shouting loudly and ensured that no one could be heard in the House. Naidu also objected to the remarks made by Kharge against the PM.

PM now says ‘tum khaate jaao, main dekhte rehta hoon’: Kharge

In the latest attack on PM Modi, Kharge said, “Prime Minister earlier used to say, ‘Na khaaonga, na khaane doonga’. Now he says, ‘tum khaate jaao, main dekhte rehta hoon.’”

Lok Sabha resumes

Uproar erupted in the House as soon as the Lok Sabha began. However, Venkaiah Naidu agreed with Mallikarjun Kharge when he said that no member should make allegations against another member of the House. “I agree with Khargeji…No member should make any allegations against any members…No member has the right to make allegations,” Naidu said.

Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm

Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the well of the house protesting

Sonia Gandhi’s now in the well and screaming bloody murder. It’s not very clear what’s upset her and the party’s MPs so much. 

The Congress MPs are back to shouting slogans as well. Sumitra Mahajan pleads ignorance. “I don’t know what has been said,” she pleads. 

“He should apologise!” Kharge shouted. He wasn’t very clear about what though.

Kharge then tried to bring up the issue of Vasundhara Raje but was cut off by BJP MPs who protested against a non-MP being mentioned. 

“A person who’s not an MP can’t be brought into this,” Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said. 

However, Kharge brings up her name again and there’s a lot of name calling now. Kharge brought up allegations against the Chief Minister’s son as well and was instantly shouted down BJP. He’s warned by the Speaker to stop making allegations but he doesn’t want to. Rahul Gandhi has his eyes shut down now.

PM has shut his eyes, mouth and ears to this controversy, says Kharge

The Congress leader questioned why the government couldn’t ensure the security of Lalit Modi in India. 

“If you can’t bring a bhagoda here and keep him safe, how will you be able to do that in other cases?” Kharge asked.

His attacks was also reserved for the Prime Minister. 

“The Prime Minister has shut his eyes, mouth and ears to this controversy,” he said. Rahul Gandhi’s smiling now, rather broadly too.

Modi misused travel documents, says Kharge

The Congress leader claimed that Modi had completely misused the priveleges granted by the External Affairs Minister and had gone all over the world before taking care of his wife.

“Aaram karte rahe!” Kharge said, even as Congress leaders thumped their desks. 

Why didn’t Swaraj point out to the UK government that the former IPL chairman should be allowed to go only to Portugal and no other country.

His wife was never Lalit Modi’s first priority, says Kharge

“But this man you recommended for a visa where did he go?” Kharge said. 

The Congress leader claimed that Modi had exploited the humanitarian grounds on which the travel documents were extended to him. 

“But what was the husband’s priority: a wedding, meeting a president and his final one was meeting his wife,” he said. 

His wife was never his first priority in any letter, Kharge said. The Congress leader ended up sounding a bit like a relationship counsellor but no one in the party’s complaining and they thumped their desks in glee. Sushma Swaraj, however, seems like she’s looking daggers at him.

You should have resigned on moral grounds, Congress tells Sushma

“Your relations with him were very deep…We are alleging that what you have done is illegal,” Kharge said. 

The Congress leader said that she had erred in aiding Lalit Modi to get travel documents. 

“We are asking for your resignation on those grounds. You should have resigned on moral grounds,” Kharge said. He also questioned how the minister could say that it wouldn’t affect relations between the two nations. 

“Are you saying it is fine that he gets travel documents?” Kharge said

Meanwhile Arun Jaitley was seen in a short discussion with LK Advani and Swaraj.

Why didn’t you pursue due procedure, asks Kharge

Rahul Gandhi had his eyes shut briefly but is now as attentive as ever. Meanwhile, Kharge continues. 

“We want to know why she aided him despite knowing all that was against him,” he said. 

He brought in Jaitley as well tossing in a barb about how much he charged as legal fees. Kharge said that the argument of rendering humanitarian aid was also flawed. 

“Why didn’t you pursue due procedure,” asked Kharge.

Why did Sushma help Modi despite the allegations against him, asks Congress

Kharge, with Rahul Gandhi listening keenly behind him, said that Swaraj had aided an economic offender bypass the law. 

“Despite knowing everything against him, why did she help him?” Kharge said

The Congress leader said that Swaraj hadn’t pursued the Blue Corner notice against him since her family was representing him as lawyers.

No point in debate unless PM is present, says Congress

“There is no point in this debate unless the Prime Minister is present,” Kharge said. 

The Congress has made it clear that the Prime Minister will be the target of this debate. The PM talks only on radio shows and TV but should come here and be a part of this debate given he’s in charge of Swaraj’s appointment, the Congress leader argued. 

“The final response in this debate should come from the Prime Minister,” he said.

Could have saved Parliament session earlier, says Mallikarjuna Kharge

The Congress leader of opposition said that it was sad that the government had shown enthusiasm is responding to the issue earlier the monsoon session could have been saved. 

Expectedly the BJP wasn’t amused.