Sushma Swaraj breaks silence in Parliament with a denial
"I did not request the British government for any travel documents for Lalit Modi. The allegations levelled against me are baseless," Sushma told the Rajya Sabha which was adjourned as soon as she began to speak.
Making her first statement in Parliament in the Lalit Modi controversy, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday denied asking the British government to issue a travel document to the tainted cricket czar Lalit Modi to allow him and his wife to travel to Portugal for medical reasons.
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"I did not request the British government for any travel documents for Lalit Modi. The allegations levelled against me are baseless," Sushma told the Rajya Sabha which was adjourned as soon as she began to speak, with the opposition rejecting her statement and instead asking for a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
Sushma's denial is in sharp contrast with the government's position so far over helping Lalit Modi's wife - who needed a surgery in Portugal - as a step taken on "humanitarian grounds". The BJP has been using that line to distance Sushma from Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who had signed on Lalit Modi's immigration papers and whose son Dushyant has business relations with the tainted former IPL chief.
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Last month, an email sent by Lalit Modi proposing Sushma's husband, Swaraj Kaushal, as the alternate director in his company, Indofil, also emerged. Modi had sent a letter to his company secretary, appointing Kaushal as his proxy in Indofil board meetings since he is out of the country. Soon after the revelation, Kaushal, who has been Modi's lawyer for close to three decades, said he declined the offer.
What happened in Parliament today?
Sushma managed to speak a few sentences in the Rajya Sabha amid slogan-shouting by the Congress members seeking fixing of accountability in Lalitgate and Vyapam scams. She could not complete her statementn as Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien adjourned the House till 1200 hours amidst the din.
Seizing on Kurien's statement that Prime Minister Modi cannot respond unless a discussion as demanded by Anand Sharma of the Congress by suspending the business is initiated, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said Swaraj would make a statement.
Sushma said she had conveyed on 'day one' through Jaitley that she was ready to respond to all charges being made against her. She wanted to say more, but Kurien adjourned the House amid loud protests from the Congress members, who moved into the Well the moment Swaraj rose to speak. The Minister said for two weeks she has been coming to the House every day in the hope of being able to make a statement and clarify on the issue.