Five voices that thundered in Lok Sabha today
The 16-day logjam between the ruling BJP and the main opposition party Congress seems to have ended on August 12 - the penultimate day of the current monsoon session of Parliament. The breakthrough came as Lok Sabha finally debated the Lalit Modi controversy after the government agreed to a discussion on an adjournment motion moved by the Congress on the issue. The government listed the discussion under rule 193, which does not entail voting. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who the Congress has accused of having links with the former IPL boss, requested speaker Sumitra Mahajan to accept the adjournment motion, suspend the business of the House and debate the issue.
Leader of Congress in the house Mallikarjun Kharge initiated the debate, attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence and Swaraj for her alleged association with Lalit Modi. There were disruptions when a BJP MP interrupted while Kharge started to speak during the debate. This provoked Congress president Sonia Gandhi who questioned him for speaking out of turn. A flurry of charges and counter charges ensued. In view of the pandemonium, the speaker was forced to adjourn the House once.
The external affairs minister hit back at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and, replying to his charge that her family members had accepted money from Lalit Modi in return for helping him out, leveled stinging allegations against his mother Sonia Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi. In an innuendo, she alleged that Rajiv and Sonia had accepted money from Bhopal gas tragedy accused Warren Anderson and Bofors case accused Ottavio Quattrocchi respectively for helping them. While she spoke, senior BJP leader LK Advani was seen getting emotional with his eyes swelling with tears. Swaraj is considered close to the patriarch.
Rahul repeated his old charge of Swaraj's family accepting money from Lalit Modi. The Congress leaders, including Rahul, kept demanding the presence of the PM during the discussion. Modi apparently had left it to his confidante and finance minister Arun Jaitley to defend Swaraj and the government, thus maintaining his studied but mysterious silence over the raging controversy.
Replying to the debate, Jaitley rejected all the charges of the Opposition and ruled out Swaraj's resignation. He called Rahul "an expert without knowledge", with the members of the treasury benches bursting into peels of laughter. While he spoke, Congress, RJD and JD(U) MPs walked out of the House. After the debate, the motion was defeated with a voice vote.
Who said what (Excerpts):
Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge: "The Prime Minister has shut his eyes, his ears and his mouth. Sushmaji was most welcome to help somebody on humanitarian grounds, but it should not have been done in violation of law. You made it sound as if the Opposition does not have a heart. It does sound unpleasant to speak, but we have to say that the help was only given because Swaraj's family has close relations with the Lalit Modi family. The Prime Minister should hear the debate so that necessary action can be taken against the concerned minister."
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj: "I have a right to put forward my view. I expect the Opposition to listen to me. My husband wasn't the lawyer in passport case of Lalit Modi. My daughter was the junior at 9th number in case. The Enforcement Directorate did nothing about Lalit Modi when the UPA government was in power. There was no action taken for four years. Congress government did nothing to prosecute Lalit Modi. Rahul Gandhi should ask his mother why Anderson was freed. P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister when Income Tax dept appointed Chidambaram's wife Nalini Chidambaram as his counsel. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi, you love going on vacations. On your next vacation, when you are alone, read the history of your family and come back and ask 'Mumma, how much money did we get in the Quattrocchi incident?' I have been in politics for 38 years now, my reputation is spotless, the Congress is guilty, not me."
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi: "He (PM Narendra Modi) doesn't have the guts to sit here and face our questions. Sushmaji held my hand in Parliament yesterday and asked me, "Beta maine galat kya kiya?" I am asking how much money did Lalit Modi give to Swaraj family? Narendra Modi does not have the guts to sit in the Lok Sabha."
Finance minister Arun Jaitley: "Neither Khargeji nor Congress leader have been able to lift themselves from hollow slogans in the debate, the anticipation of the nation and members was that Congress will come up with reasons on why did they keep stalling the house leading to washout. I want to make it clear that the government completely rejects the allegations that have been imposed by Khargeji and Rahulji. One whole session washed out for no reason. The problem with Rahul Gandhi is that he is an expert without any knowledge. You (UPA) took steps which were all in the wrong directions and contrary to belief could not have helped in acting against Lalit Modi. It is this current government that has initiated steps that now goes in the right direction from registration of case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to issuing a non-bailable warrant. You are very fond of citing three monkeys but do not make monkey out of the nation. The government rejects all the charges and the question of Sushma ji's resignation does not arise. There are still honest people in the country who work for their living, but there are generations which have ruled the politics of this country who have lived without working."
Parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu: "The Congress is maligning the image of the best serving foreign minister. The Congress stated 'resignation first, discussion later'. Is this how the Congress wants the house to function?"