Sonia, Rahul never intervened in Ishrat Jahan case: Congress
NEW DELHI: The Congress said on Wednesday party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi never intervened in any administrative matter, including the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, during the United Progressive Alliance government.
“Unlike the RSS, Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi never intervened or gave any suggestion to the then home minister P Chidambaram or any other authority in government for any administrative matter, including the Ishrat Jahan case,” party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Wednesday.
Surjewala said: “Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah owe an explanation to 125 crore Indians to tell the ‘real motive’ behind their desperation to shut the ongoing trial in Ishrat Jahan case.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi should stop perpetuating bundle of lies by using his cronies and pawns to spread falsehoods about the role of Congress president and vice-president in this case,” Surjewala said.
“By such mischievous attempts to hoodwink and divert the attention of people of the country, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah cannot put a lid on the truth. Let truth and justice not be a casualty in this web of deceit being woven by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government,” he said.
The Congress reaction came in the light of statements of Union minister of commerce and industries Nirmala Sitharaman and other BJP spokespersons in the shootout case.
Sitharaman and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had levelled serious allegations against Sonia Gandhi over the Ishrat Jahan shootout case, asserting the Congress had connived to get a political rival eliminated in Gujarat.
“Here is a political rival, the then CM of Gujarat, whom the Congress could not face politically. So they quietly allowed a terror plot bloom. By politicising the case, the Congress has undermined the national security. They have weakened the entire security network,” Sitharaman had said on Monday.
On the other side, Congress called on PM Modi and Shah to answer “why they are trying to bypass the findings of metropolitan court, Ahmedabad, and division bench of the Gujarat high court”.