New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday hit out at the BJP-led government over fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s removal from the Interpol database of Red Notices, saying while the Opposition was being targeted by the Enforcement Directorate and CBI, its “friend” was being let off.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said talk of patriotism by those giving “protection” to such people is a “joke”.
In a tweet, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, “‘Vipaksh ko ED, CBI, Mitr ko rihaai’ (ED, CBI for the Opposition, let off for friend).”
“‘Modani’ model matlab pehle looto, phir bin sazaa ke chooto’ (Modani model means first loot and then go scott-free without punishment),” he said.
Speaking with reporters before leaving for Parliament, Kharge said, “They are doing things to divert attention from real issues. Our embassies are being attacked. People who have run away with money from banks, Mehul Choksi, those giving protection to such people talk about patriotism, it is a joke.” the Congress president told reporters before leaving for Parliament.
“We will ask the government to clarify on this,” he said.
Choksi, wanted in a Rs 13,000-crore scam in the Punjab National Bank, is understood to have been removed from the Interpol database of Red Notices on the basis of his plea to the Lyon-headquartered agency, people in the know of the development had said.
Earlier in a tweet in Hindi, Kharge said, “ED-CBI for opposition leaders but release from Interpol for ‘our Mehul bhai’ of Modi ji. When Parliament can be stalled for ‘best friend’, then how can help for the ‘old friend ‘ be denied who absconded five years ago”.
“Thousands of crores of the country were lost and ‘Na khaane doonga’ became another ‘jumla’,” the Congress chief also said.
On the BJP’s attack on Rahul Gandhi, Kharge told reporters that the question of an apology doesn’t arise.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday charged that Gandhi is the present day Mir Jafar of Indian polity.
“It would not be an aberration to say that Rahul Gandhi is a present day Mir Jafar of Indian polity. What he has done in London is the same thing that Mir Jafar did,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told a press conference
Parliament has remained paralysed due to protests from rival sides.
While the BJP has demanded an “unambiguous apology” from Gandhi for his remarks in the UK that democracy in India is “under attack”, several opposition parties have accused the government that it does not want Parliament to function and is finding ways to divert attention from their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe (JPC) into allegations against the Adani Group.
