New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking kickbacks of Rs650 million (Dh35 million) from corporate houses as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and asked him to come clean.
“It is on the records of the income tax department that Modi received money from the Sahara Group nine times in six months [in 2013-14]),” Gandhi told a public rally in this north Gujarat town in the Prime Minister’s home district.
Rolling out dates when Modi allegedly received money from the Sahara Group (Rs50 million seven times and Rs25 million twice), the Congress leader said: “The Income Tax Department has this record from the Sahara Group’s diary for the last two-and-a-half years and has recommended an inquiry.
“Narendra Modiji, tell us whether this allegation is true or not, order an independent investigation into this and come clean. You have made the entire country stand in queues for days. Now speak the truth,” Gandhi said to applause by the huge crowd.
“This is not all. There is one more record of the Birla Group [with the Income Tax Department]. Gujarat CM [to be paid] Rs25 crore [Rs250 million], Rs12 crore [Rs120 million] paid, the rest?’ This is what is written there.
“Now, you tell the country Modiji if this is true. You should order an independent inquiry into these Income Tax records.”
According to Gandhi, the kickbacks became known after an Income Tax raid on November 22, 2014, on the Sahara groups when their records were seized, he said.
Gandhi said there were entries which showed that on October 30, 2013, Rs2.50 crore [Rs25 million] was given to Modi, on November 12 Rs5 crore [Rs50 million], on November 27 Rs2.5 crore [Rs25 million] and on November 29 another Rs5 crore [Rs50 million] was handed over to him.
“These are all in records of the Income Tax department,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said between December 6, 2013, and February 22, 2014, Rs25 crore [Rs250 million] was given to Modi.
In six months, the Sahara diary showed nine payments to Modi.
Gandhi went on: “You didn’t allow me to speak in Parliament. You were not ready to stand in front of us in Parliament. Don’t know what was the reason.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied the corruption allegations hurled at Modi.
“Our Prime Minister is as pure as the Ganga,” party leader and cabinet minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in New Delhi.
The allegations levelled by Gandhi were earlier taken to the Supreme Court by noted advocate Prashant Bhushan. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also been making the same allegations at public rallies.
The BJP on Wednesday dismissed Gandhi’s allegation, calling it “baseless”.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, at a press conference called hours after Gandhi made the allegation, said the Congress leader was “frustrated” by repeated electoral losses.
“I condemn the shameful, baseless allegations of Rahul Gandhi. People will never believe it,” Prasad said.
“Rahul Gandhi is leading his party to repeated disastrous defeat. People are not trusting him and his party ... people do not think the party is even capable of running a municipality,” the minister added.
Prasad also mentioned the Agusta Westland scam, and said that Gandhi was trying to divert attention from the case that recently returned to the limelight following a report in a national daily.
“Names of Congress leaders are surfacing in the AgustaWestland scam. His family’s name has surfaced in the scam in Italy, and investigation is on here in India as well,” Prasad said.
“He has given this statement to divert attention from the scam,” Prasad added.
Earlier this month, Gandhi accused Modi and BJP officials of not allowing him to speak in parliament during the session that ended last week. Gandhi had claimed he had evidence of “personal corruption of Prime Minister Modi,” but did not reveal what it was.
Sambit Patra, another BJP spokesman, accused Gandhi of “talking irrelevant things to stay relevant” and said his comments must be discounted. He told reporters that the allegations had previously been found to be unsubstantiated.
Gandhi has been highly critical of Modi’s ban on November 8 of high-value currency notes, which was intended to force tax evaders to give up their cash stockpiles but also created hardship for ordinary Indians. The sudden withdrawal of 86 per cent of India’s currency left cash in short supply, with retail sales stumbling and wholesale markets in turmoil. Hundreds of millions of people in India lack bank accounts and use cash to pay for everything, from groceries to hospital stays to land purchases.
