The BJP on Friday kept up its pressure on the government, both inside and outside Parliament, with its demand that Minister of State Shashi Tharoor be dismissed.
Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said that as soon as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned from abroad, he must “explain to Parliament” why Mr. Tharoor had not resigned.
In reply to a question, he said: “If Lalit Modi [IPL Commissioner] is involved in any wrong-doing, let there be an inquiry. We do not hold a brief for him… If he is removed, let it be done.”
He described charges of a link between Mr. Modi and Vasundhara Raje when she was Rajasthan Chief Minister as “false, mischievous and malicious.” She had not, in any way, benefited monetarily from the IPL.
The “sweat equity” given by the Kerala consortium to Sunanda Pushkar was a clear case of “quid pro quo” and, therefore, the BJP's insistence that the Minister be dismissed, he said.
