Modi sidesteps Lalit row, Oppn sharpens attack

“It is in the interest of the Prime Minister to take immediate action against those involved in corruption. Otherwise, nationally and internationally, it is going to haunt him wherever he goes,” said Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Azad said that people will start asking for Modi’s resignation, if he failed to act. “So far, they are not asking, but I am sure people will start asking for his resignation. If he has to save his government and his prestige, he should act.”  Speaking soon after the PM’s Mann ki Baat programme was aired on the radio, Azad expressed disappointment over the “failure” of the PM to speak on Lalitgate.

“All over India, no one is ready to listen to Mann ki Baat. Everyone wants to listen to <g data-gr-id="48">voice</g> of people,” said the senior Congress leader. Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, he said that Modi continued to be a “dream merchant” in the programme as he has been merely selling dreams in India and abroad.

Noting that Lalit Modi had only recently praised the Prime Minister by hailing him as the “most savvy man”, Azad said Narendra Modi continued to keep mum about him and did not say whether there was any plan to bring the fugitive back to India. “The Prime Minister considers himself a superman who can order around even heads of government. Has he written to the Prime Minister or Finance Minister of the UK in the last one year” on the issue of bringing back Lalit Modi, questioned Azad.

“Whatever (LK) Advaniji has to say, he says it clearly. It is for you to understand what he is saying...’<g data-gr-id="43">laton</g> <g data-gr-id="38">ke</g> <g data-gr-id="39">bhoot</g> baton <g data-gr-id="40">se</g> <g data-gr-id="41">nahi</g> <g data-gr-id="42">mante</g>’,” Azad remarked when asked about the BJP patriarch’s call for maintenance of probity in public life. 

“Advaniji is a seasoned leader, who always talks in a measured tone. There are several senior leaders in the BJP who are saying their ‘Mann ki Baat’. They are saying that there is a difference in practice and precept” of the Prime Minister, he said.

Azad also commented on PM’s reference to Raksha Bandhan in his radio talk, “As the Ramzan month is on, it would have been in the fitness of things if the Prime Minister had talked about it. Since ours is a composite culture, he could have talked about festivals of all religions,” remarked Azad. 

“Regrettably, it appears aimed at polarisation. Chor <g data-gr-id="30">chori</g> <g data-gr-id="31">se</g> <g data-gr-id="32">jaye</g>, <g data-gr-id="33">heraferi</g> <g data-gr-id="34">se</g> <g data-gr-id="35">na</g> <g data-gr-id="36">jaye</g> (one cannot change one’s essential nature),”  he added.