Sushma turns the table on Congress over Lalit Modi row, rakes up Quattrocchi to target Gandhi family

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday seemed to turn the table towards the Congress on the Lalit Modi controversy, as she responded to a sharp attack by opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge in Lok Sabha.

Dismissing all allegations against her family and self, the External Affairs Minister alleged that those who actually indulged in quid pro quo were members of Congress, and Gandhi family in particular.

Directing her attack at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Swaraj said that since the Gandhi scion “likes going on leaves, he should go on one and read about the history of his family”.

Asserting that not her but the members of Congress party were “in the habit of helping fugitives”, Swaraj said, “Rahul Gandhi ji should go to her mother and ask – Mumma, papa ne Quattrocchi ko kyun chhoda? Mumma, papa ne Anderson ko kyun chhoda?”

"We never did anything secretly, the Congress secretly facilitated Quattrocchi's exit," said Swaraj.

The External Affairs Minister further said that she had not indulged in any “conflict of interesting”, alleging that it was former UPA minister P Chidambaram who had indulged in the same.

"When Chidambaram was the Finance Minister, his wife Nalini Chidambaram was appointed a lawyer by the Income Tax department, which is a clear case of conflict of interest," said Swaraj.

She further said, "When the issue came up in Parliament, Chidambaram claimed ignorance on the appointment of his wife, and said that he wouldn’t have let it happen had he known about the same."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member also gave a point-by-point rebuttal of the allegations made by veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in Lok Sabha.

Blaming the UPA government for not bringing back former Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Lalit Modi, Swaraj alleged that it was the previous government that did not act in the case for four years.

"It was under the UPA government that Lalit Modi got UK stay permit and the government did not even file an extradition request," she said.

She further alleged that Chidambaram did not keep anyone in the Ministry of External Affairs in loop when he wrote to UK government on the Lalit Modi issue.

This came after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan accepted an adjournment motion for a discussion on the Lalit Modi controversy.

Addressing the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge refuted all the claims made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is in the line of fire over the issue. He made a point-by-point attack on the Union Minister. Here's what the Congress said:

Kharge said that the minister's "humanitarian grounds" claim was made as if Sushma Swaraj was the only one with emotions and all others do not have hearts. Kharge further said that even if it was on humanitarian ground, she should have insisted on him returning to India after meeting his wife.

The Congress also attacked the External Affairs Minister for not consulting officials of her ministry and Indian High Commission in UK. Kharge pointed that the minister had not even consulted the Indian High Commissioner in UK or senior officials like Foreign Secretary on the issue of Lalit Modi’s travel papers.

Taking on Sushma Swaraj over her claim of there being no proof/record of allegations made by Congress, Kharge pointed that there had been verbal communication between the External Affairs Minister and British MP Keith Vaz, hence there was no record of the same.

Kharge claimed that Swaraj herself had accepted to have talked to Vaz for Lalit Modi’s travel papers, and there was no point in claiming there was no record.