Opposition wants Modi govt to come clean on Rajnath issue

Talk of strife in the BJP over reports on Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his family has given the Opposition parties another opportunity to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The Congress wondered who levelled allegations against Singh that prompted him to mull quitting the government.

“The Congress, which is the main opposition party, has not levelled any allegations against Rajnath Singh. We would like to know what the allegations are and who is behind it,” AICC general secretary Ajay Maken told reporters. Maken wanted to know the allegations that the prime minister and a host of other BJP leaders had denied.

Other opposition parties also revelled in the BJP’s discomfiture as rumours swirled over the alleged misdemeanours of the home minister’s son.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) co-founder and former Union minister Tariq Anwar said the government and the BJP should come clean on the entire episode otherwise there would be some room for suspicion and speculation.

However, NCP general secretary D P Tripathi and Janata Dal-United President Sharad Yadav came out in support of Singh saying he was a “spotless” politician.

“It is good that the PMO has clarified. I have known Singh for so many years. He is not the kind of person who would even think of such a thing. Forget about doing it. Even his family members would never think of such a thing,” Tripathi said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury was dripping with sarcasm as he said the prime minister should explain things in detail. 

“You have to seek clarification from the prime minister or await his tweets on the issue,” Yechury said. Modi prefers monologues to dialogue, he added. Communist Party of India leader D Raja said the clarification by the PMO and the home minister was “too late and too little” as reports have been appearing in national dailies for days together.

“Without any fire, there cannot be any smoke. It shows there are lot of things....there is internal strife....the politics is changing,” he said.

The Samajwadi Party also wanted to know what were the rumours that prompted Singh to talk of renouncing politics.