New Delhi: Accusing External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of keeping her ministry in dark over Lalitgate, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a blistering attack on the former over her emotional clarification in the Lok Sabha yesterday, and said that Sonia Gandhi would have never done the same thing.
"It was a very nice speech, hollow, but it sounded very nice. Sushma ji said that Sonia ji would have done the same thing. As her son, I can tell Sushma ji that Sonia ji would not have done the same thing," Rahul said.
"Secondly, whenever there is some stealing that happens, secrecy is maintained by the thief. In this case, Sushma ji has maintained full secrecy. Nobody in the ministry other than Sushma Swaraj ji knew about this decision. After this decision, the UK Government changed their position," he added.
The Congress vice-president further asked Swaraj to tell the nation exactly how much money she received from Lalit Modi so that he stays out of jail.
"Whenever there is a robbery, a financial transaction takes place. There has been a financial transfer here as well. Sushma ji`s family has received money from Lalit Modi. She should tell the nation exactly how much money Lalit Modi has paid her family to keep himself out of jail," he said.
Swaraj had yesterday also insisted that she had made "no request or recommendation" to the UK Government for Lalit Modi`s travel documents but had left the decision to Britain.
She also said that she had not helped Lalit Modi but his cancer-stricken wife.
Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said that the External Affairs Minister is an expert at "indulging in theatrical politics".
Sushma Swaraj had yesterday said that she was ready to face the consequences of helping former IPL chairman Lalit Modi's wife on humanitarian grounds if it was a crime.
"She (Sushma Swaraj) is an expert at indulging in theatrical politics," Sonia Gandhi said before she joined her party colleagues protesting the suspension of 25 Congress MPs by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
With Agency inputs
