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The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), the rival parties that are supporting the United Progressive Alliance from outside, came to the rescue of the Congress on Tuesday, as the main opposition attacked the ruling coalition over the allegations against Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Vadra.
The SP and the BSP’s vocal support came as a big relief for the Congress, whose other allies such as the National Conference and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) did not defend either the government or Gandhi.
No Congress minister spoke on the issue on record. On Monday, Congress member of Parliament Rao Inderjeet Singh, who is negotiating for entry into the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), had spoken up about Vadra.
The BJP tore into the government, demanding a special probe into Vadra’s controversial land deals. But the SP and the BSP came out with virtually identical statements. The crux of this was: “How can Sonia Gandhi be held responsible for the actions of Robert Vadra?”
Since morning, both houses of Parliament witnessed noisy scenes as the Opposition demanded a discussion on Vadra’s land deals and the Treasury benches vociferously opposed it. Sloganeering from both sides ensured that the house functioning was paralysed, while BJP benches shouted: “Congress ka haath, damaad ke saath (hand of the Congress is with the son-in-law).”
The Congress countered by demanding a probe into the Comptroller and Auditor General’s indictments on the Narendra Modi government of Gujarat and allegations into Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s wife Sadhana Singh’s dealings.
“We do not think a private individual like Robert Vadra can be discussed in Parliament. What he does as a son in law, how can Sonia Gandhi be held accountable for that? There are more national issues to discuss,” SP leader Naresh Agarwal told Business Standard.
He insisted the SP continued to be a political rival of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and to fight the polls against the Congress but was “not interested in making petty politics. The BJP is unnecessarily politicising the issue.”
Party insiders concede the party has never been inimical to the Congress in its most dire circumstances. Even during the controversy on allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, it did not endanger the government. “The little bad blood that had occurred between the two sides over the Durga Shakti Nagpal issue is a matter of the past. The Centre has now put it on the backburner,” said an insider. Earlier, Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention against the suspension of Nagpal, an IAS officer, by the SP-ruled Uttar Pradesh government.
BSP supremo Mayawati actually called reporters on this issue and said: “I would like to say if Sonia Gandhi is held responsible for it, our party does not agree with it. If someone does something wrong, his or her relations should not be punished. On the allegations against Robert Vadra, how can Sonia Gandhi be held responsible?”
PTI says the Houses also saw other disruptive issues, including Telangana, with Telugu Desam Party members continuing to storm the Well, wearing shirts with the slogan, “Save Andhra Pradesh, save democracy.”
The Left targeted the Congress on the solar energy scam in Kerala and some others voiced concern over violence in Kishtwar and other areas in the Jammu region.
