Hitting back at Congress over the Lalit Modi travel documents row, BJP on Tuesday said the opposition party was “frustrated” and had shown its “complete bankruptcy” by using a “non-issue” to target External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Referring to Congress releasing photos showing Lalit Modi with Ms. Swaraj beside Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the picture was five years old when Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and also the head of the state cricket association with Mr. Shah being his deputy in the board.
Terming as “baseless” the charges against Ms. Swaraj, he said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi have been clicked “practically with all coal scam accused, 2G (spectrum allocation) scam accused and Aircel-Maxis scam accused,” besides those accused of CWG scam.
“They (Congress) are bereft of ideas. They want to make a non-issue an issue which will never become an issue... it shows the complete bankruptcy of Congress,” Mr. Javadekar told reporters here at the airport. “Congress has lost the plot and is frustrated because people of the country have reposed their faith in Modi Government and Congress cannot digest this,” he said.
Seeking to turn the tables on Congress, Mr. Javadekar said that even its leaders had been spotted with Lalit Modi. “We have won the faith of poor people. Congress cannot digest this. So they are levelling these charges. They are baseless charges. After Sushma ji ’s clarification there is no issue at all,” he said.
