Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi step down till his name is cleared of alleged charges of graft and sought a probe into the allegations by a Supreme Court monitored committee. The Supreme Court should take "suo motu" cognizance of the matter, Kejriwal told a press conference here, hours after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups.
Kejriwal, who had levelled similar charges against Modi in November in the Delhi Assembly, said the Congress was only "following" the Aam Aadmi Party in this regard and also in terming demonetization as a "scam".
"The Prime Minister should resign till his name is cleared of the charges. The matter should be probed by a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team. Agencies like CBI are in any case controlled by Modi and Amit Shah," Kejriwal said.
The AAP chief said BJP patriarch LK Advani had set the "right example" by quitting when his name had surfaced in the Hawala scam.
"Narendra Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister whose name has cropped up in raw print. This is a very grave matter but it is being suppressed and has been suppressed over the last two years by attaching officers of their convenience to the case," he said.
Kejriwal wondered why the PM was "evading a probe" if he was innocent. The country has been "cheated against", he said.
The Delhi Chief Minister said he will send the "Income Tax appraisal reports" in this regard to Prashant Bhushan who has filed a petition in the Supreme Court. These documents have not yet been submitted in the Court, Kejriwal said, displaying few voluminous reports.
"We had raised the same issue on November 15 in the Delhi Assembly.It is good that whatever we are doing the Congress is following. We had termed demonetization a scam, then a month later Rahul said the same thing and today he finally mustered the courage to raise this issue," he said.
Kejriwal also sought to know the reason behind Rahul's delay in making the allegations after promising an announcement. "Was he trying to strike a bargain? Congress and BJP have setting. In fact, all the leaders who figure in the papers should be probed," Kejriwal said.
The Left parties today demanded a thorough probe into Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's allegations that Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups. Targeting Modi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the "personal-political corruption" charges against the Prime Minister while he delivers "sermons" on combating black money and corruption is his "trademark hypocrisy".
"Sahara Diaries and the allegations against Modi, when he was Gujarat CM, are very serious and must be investigated," he said.
"Whether Vyapam, Lalit Modi, GSPC or now Sahara Diaries, they reveal the sleazy, crony capitalism of BJP state govts.
Thorough probe needed (sic)," he tweeted.
CPI too demanded high-level probe into Gandhi's allegation.
"It's a case which deserves high-level probe so that people get to know the truth," CPI national secretary D Raja said in Hyderabad where the party is at present holding its three-day national council meeting.
Earlier in the day, the Congress vice president alleged that Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups and demanded an independent inquiry into it.
Addressing a rally in Mehsana in the Prime Minister's home state, he alleged that in the I-T records there are notings of Sahara officials' claims that they had paid nine times to Modi between October, 2013 and February, 2014.
Similarly, as per documents with Income Tax department, the Birla group also paid Rs 12 crore to Modi when he was Chief Minister, Gandhi added.
