‘Modigate’, Vyapam force session washout on Day 2

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 22

The turbulence over Lalit Modi controversy and the Vyapam scam stalled the proceedings in Parliament for the second consecutive day today with an unrelenting Opposition insisting on the resignations of three top BJP leaders. The ruling BJP not only rejected the demand, but also countered the Congress by raising “corruption” issues linked to its chief ministers in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, Harish Rawat and Virbhadra Singh.

The Opposition has been demanding the ouster of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan for their alleged involvement in “Modigate” and the Vyapam scam. 

Both the Houses of Parliament witnessed repeated adjournments and failed to transact business amid unruly scenes. In the Lok Sabha, Congress MPs, including party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, wore black arm-bands and displayed placards targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which prompted Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to warn of disciplinary action. 

“As soon as the House met, I advised the members to refrain from displaying placards and wearing black bands. We have well-settled standards on House etiquette and each member is periodically informed about these through bulletins. If the disorderly conduct continues, I will be constrained to initiate disciplinary action against erring members,” the Speaker said. The Congress and the Left MPs stormed the well of the House, stalling it twice before final adjournment for the day around 2 pm.

The ruckus followed the Speaker’s rejection of adjournment motions moved by NK Premchandran (RSP), Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Saugata Roy (TMC), among others. The Congress MPs, encouraged by party chief Sonia Gandhi, sought discussions on the Lalit Modi row and displayed anti-PM placards reading “Bada Modi meherbaan to chhota Modi pehelwan (Lalit Modi enjoys the PM’s patronage)”; and “Bhrashtachaar pe lambe chaude bhashan, Lalit Modi pe maunaasan (double standards on graft)”. Both the PM and Sushma were present in the House when the placards were displayed.

In the Rajya Sabha too, several opposition parties, including the Congress, BSP and the Left, insisted that no debate was possible without the resignation of the three BJP leaders. 

Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley came out in Sushma’s defence, asking the opposition to “point out one provision of the law she had violated in trying to help Lalit Modi”. He sought to turn the tables on the Congress, referring to allegations of financial irregularities against its chief ministers in Himachal, Puducherry and Kerala.

The BJP also released a sting-video allegedly showing Uttarakhand CM Rawat’s aide making money by “tweaking” the state’s liquor policy to benefit private distributors.

Demanding Rawat’s immediate sacking, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “We will talk about every state if Parliament rules are to be amended. We will discuss the Kerala solar scam involving Oommen Chandy, corruption cases against Virbhadra Singh and the Goa contract bribery case involving former-CM Digambar Kamat.”

"The Congress is ‘loot ki sargana’ (kingpin of corruption). During the UPA tenure, it looted Rs 12 lakh crore. Now all its CMs are acting as ‘loot ke saudagar’ (merchants of loot). In fact, Rahul and Sonia Gandhi should tell the country how much commission is sent to 10 Janpath by the Congress CMs out of the illegal money they make,” said Shrikant Sharma, BJP national secretary and Himachal affairs in charge.