A belligerent Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday dared the Modi government to investigate the allegations against her son-in-law Robert Vadra, adding that the charges against him were part of a political conspir
A belligerent Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday dared the Modi government to investigate the allegations against her son-in-law Robert Vadra, adding that the charges against him were part of a political conspiracy.
“Every day, they (BJP) level baseless allegations. If there is any truth, they should hold an impartial inquiry and the facts will be there for all to see. Doodh ka doodh, pani ka pani ho jayega,” she said.
Mrs Gandhi, who was in her constituency Rae Bareli, was responding to questions by reporters about senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya’s demand for a detailed inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the alleged involvement of Robert Vadra in the 2009 benami purchase of a mansion in London and his alleged links with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
Talking about the functions organised to mark the completion of two years of the Modi government, the Congress president said, “I have never seen anything like this — Modiji is the Prime Minister and not a Shahenshah. The nation is facing drought, poverty and farmers are in pain. At these times, such a ‘show of celebration’ is not appropriate”.
The BJP immediately hit back at Mrs Gandhi’s “shahenshah” dig and her defence of Mr Vadra.
Claiming that Mrs Gandhi’s comments had exposed the “farce” that “Vadra is merely a private person,” BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said, “It has established that he is the Gandhi family and the Gandhi family is him.”
Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said, “The daughter-in-law of a big family is not a maharani (queen),” while BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Mrs Gandhi’s remarks were “absolutely deplorable” and added that the Congress needs to learn what ‘shahenshah’ means.
“A ‘shahenshah’ is a person who considers this country and the party as their fiefdom. And who other than the Gandhis can be called Shahenshahs. They have been ruling this country as if this country was their fiefdom. Indira Gandhi was responsible for the emergency in this country. That is shehenshah-ism. That is dynasty rule,” Mr Patra told a TV channel.
