External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that she “neither requested the British authorities to provide travel documents to the former IPL Commissioner [Lalit Modi] nor recommended his case.”
Ms. Swaraj said she had only told them that the “relations between the two countries would not be affected on extending help to Mr. Modi.”
“If helping a critically ill person is a crime, I admit I have committed the crime,” Ms. Swaraj said. “If Sonia ji was faced with a situation like this, what would she have done?” she said.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, when asked about the near absence of the Opposition in the House, said that, “apart from the suspended MPs all others are free to attend the House. I have not asked them to stay away.”
The Congress on its part appeared unimpressed by Ms. Swaraj’s statement. Party MP Ranjit Ranjan, who is among those suspended by the Speaker on Monday, was severely critical of Ms. Swaraj.
She accused the Minister of resorting to political opportunism in making the statement while there was no real Opposition in the House. The party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said that Ms. Swaraj’s defence was flimsy at best.
“It is very clear that the British authorities decided to grant travel documents to Lalit Modi after the intervention of the Minister,” he said.
While the protests outside Parliament went on in the manner of the last three days, Youth Congress members, including its president Raja Singh Brar, marched from their office, 5 Raisina Road, towards Parliament Gate in order to protest the suspension of 25 Congress MPs, without their shirts on.
