Congress hits back at BJP after allegations on Vadra
NIRMALA SITHARAMAN HAD ATTACKED THE CONGRESS OVER MEDIA REPORTS THAT CLAIMED VADRA HAD “LINKS” WITH FUGITIVE ARMS DEALER SANJAY BHANDARI
NEW DELHI: A day after the BJP attacked the Congress over alleged links between fugitive arms dealer San jay B hand ari and Robert Va dr a, son-in-law of Congress president Son ia Gandhi, the opposition party on Wednesday sought to turn the tables on the ruling side by seeking answers from the ruling side on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s air travel by private chartered planes when he was Gujarat’s chief minister.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked the BJP details of who had paid for more than 100 trips Modi made by chartered planes within India and abroad during his CM tenure from 2003 to 2007.
“Who paid for these trips? The silence on this issue is deafening,” Singhvi said.
Flanked by senior Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia, he claimed that the total expense incurred on these trips amounted to ₹16.5 crore. Modhvadia had got the details through an RTI application.
The BJP countered, saying whatever facts the opposition party was putting out did not answer the question that people are asking. “I feel they are burdened with the efforts to prove Robert Vadra’s innocence and other Congress leaders related to the B of ors scam ,” union minister Smriti Irani said.
On Tuesday, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had attacked the Congress over media reports that claimed Va dr a had “links” with Bhandari. The reports also suggested Bhandari had booked tickets for Vadra for an overseas visit in 2012.
“Why senior leadership of the Congress, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, is keeping a studied silence? Their silence will be construed as acceptance of charges against Vadra,” she said.
The Congress dismissed the allegations, saying the BJP governments at the Centre and in Haryana and Rajasthan could prove nothing against Vadra in the past 41 months.
Singh vi accused the NDA government of allowing safe passage to B hand ari to fleet he country in December 2016.