Sheila denies payoff, Congress seeks probe

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding its Uttar Pradesh chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit’s name featuring in the list, the Congress on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes clean on the Sahara diaries bribery issue.

Modi’s name allegedly featured in the diaries as a receiver of kickbacks from the Sahara Group while he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat for a decade.

While Dikshit has denied she had knowledge about any such diary, the Congress asserted that her denial doesn’t dilute the corruption charges against Modi levelled by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and called for scrutinising all the names in the list, including its own party members.

Substantiating Gandhi’s allegations against Modi, the Congress had posted on Twitter the entries in Sahara diaries listing payments to several politicians that included Dikshit, former Delhi Chief Minister.

Rejecting the allegations, Dikshit said she “does not recall anything” about the diary and asserted she has “nothing to do” with any such diary.

According to the list, which has several names including Modi’s, Rs 1 crore in cash was given to Dikshit on September 23, 2013, in Delhi.

She was the Delhi Chief Minister until December 2013.

But the Congress is insisting on the need for Modi to come clean.

“We are fully aware that several political parties and leaders, primarily from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Modi, have been named in the documents,” Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha said. “Whether any Congress leader is named or not, is not material.

What is material is that the Prime Minister’s name is there,” he said.

“Modi is accused at the moment based on those documents and he should suo motu call for an investigation,” he said.

Asked if the party wants the matter to be probed even at the cost of Dikshit, Jha said: “All the political parties, all the leaders featuring in the documents should be scrutinised, starting with the Prime Minister.”

“We need to establish whether there was corruption or not. Since Modi is the senior most political executive in the country, he needs to subject him to a thorough and neutral probe,” said Jha, questioning the government’s silence on the issue. “If he (Modi) is clean, then why is he scared? He should go after the political parties named in the list,” added Jha.

According to the list, which has several names including Modi’s, Rs 1 crore in cash was given to Dikshit on September 23, 2013, in Delhi. She was the Delhi Chief Minister until December 2013.