Even as some political parties stayed away from the Opposition meet called to showcase unity against the demonetisation exercise here on Tuesday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said that he respected local compulsions of political parties.
Recalling that Opposition parties were together on the adverse effects of demonetisation in the winter session of Parliament, he claimed they were on the same page on two aspects: opposition to demonetisation and charges of “personal corruption” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“There are local compulsions of parties and we respect them,” he said when asked why all Opposition parties had not taken part in the press conference. “All Opposition parties believe in democratic politics. We are not RSS or BJP that we should agree on everything. There are slight differences too,” Mr. Gandhi said.
While the Congress, All-India Trinamool Congress, Janata Dal (secular), RJD, JMM, IUML and AIUDF attended the meet, the CPI (M), CPI, SP and BSP were among the notable absentees.
Mr. Gandhi repeated his charge that documents seized by income tax officials from two corporate groups showed alleged payments to Mr. Modi, asking why the office of the Prime Minister should be an exception if corruption is to be fought.
“If you have to fight corruption, why should the Prime Minister be an exception to it?” he wondered. “He responded to arguments that much black money was parked in benami transactions and criticisms of frequent changes in rules (for bank deposits and withdrawals). Then why is he not replying on the question of his own honesty and integrity? Why is he not saying we need a free and fair enquiry? Sheila Dikshit does not have a problem; why is Mr. Modi having a problem.”
Ms. Dikshit had also allegedly been named in the Sahara papers and while she initially junked the documents, she later asked why Mr. Modi was “shying away” from an independent probe.
Referring to the argument that the Supreme Court had not found the papers to constitute credible evidence for a probe, Mr. Gandhi said: “With all due respect to the court, there is a difference between an observation and a judgment.”
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad laughed off the Opposition event as a “flop show” with half the parties opposition parties not joining in. Attacking Mr. Gandhi, he said he lacked “maturity and gravitas” and would soon be left alone to hurl abuses without substance.
