Rahul Gandhi backpedals on Panama Papers claims against Shivraj Sigh Chouhan's son, says 'got confused' after defamation threat

Hours after Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh threatened to file a criminal defamation suit against Rahul Gandhi for bringing up his son’s name in the Panama papers scandal, the Congress chief said that he “got confused” as there are too many cases of corruption in the BJP ranks. Interestingly, another BJP chief minister Raman Singh’s son’s name had cropped up in the Panama Papers case in April 2017. However, Singh’s son Abhishek had denied the charges against him.

BJP mein itna brashtachaar hai ki main kal confuse ho gaya tha. Madhya Pradesh ke CM ne Panama nahi kiya unhone to e tendering aur vyapam scam kiye hain: Rahul Gandhi on his earlier remark that MP CM's son was named in Panama papers (file pic) #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/wzqWm4vQQk

— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2018

Rahul’s remarks come after Chouhan announced on Twitter that he was going to file a criminal defamation case against the Congress president for “making patently false allegations against him and his family”. In a series of tweets on Monday, Chouhan alleged that Rahul had been making “frivolous and malafide statements” against him and his family in the Vyapam scam and the Panama papers case. https://twitter.com/ChouhanShivraj/status/1056975919104045057 The chief minister slammed the Congress for a “culture that always demeans the BJP’s ground leaders”. He said, “The prime minister (Narendra Modi), is called ‘vile’ and ‘bicchu’, I am called ‘nalayak’. Staying away from power is probably going to be difficult for them and have an impact on their mental health.” https://twitter.com/ChouhanShivraj/status/1056975919104045057 He added, “The Congress over the past several years has been making unrestrained allegations about me and my family.” Chouhan said that his decision to file the suit was taken after Rahul mentioned that Chouhan’s son Kartikey had been named in the Panama papers case. In a tweet, the chief minister alleged that Rahul had been making “frivolous and malafide statements” against him and his family in the Vyapam scam and the Panama papers case. Addressing a public meeting on Monday in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, Rahul had targetted Chouhan, alleging that “rampant corruption” had taken place in the state during his rule. He claimed that the name of the son of ‘mamaji’, a chief minister, had figured in the Panama Papers but no action was taken against him. Though Rahul did not specifically mention the chief minister, it is speculated that he was referring to Chouhan because he is popularly known as ‘mamaji’. Addressing a public meeting on Monday in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, Rahul had targeted Chouhan, alleging that “rampant corruption” had taken place in the state during his rule. He claimed that the name of the son of ‘mamaji’, a chief minister, had figured in the Panama Papers but no action was taken against him. Though Rahul did not specifically mention the chief minister, it is speculated that he was referring to Chouhan because he is popularly known as ‘mamaji’. “On one side, you have the ‘chowkidaar’, on the other side you have ‘mamaji’. The name of the son of ‘mamaji’ figured in the Panama papers,” Rahul said. He added that even former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was jailed after his name appeared in the case, but “no action has been taken against the son of a chief minister”. Madhya Pradesh is set to go to polls later in November. With inputs from agencies