Jaitley row: Opposition latches on to Advani parallel

Opposition today claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has signalled to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to quit in the wake of DDCA row by drawing a parallel with L K Advani in the Hawala case, a suggestion BJP rejected outright.

"Today I heard Prime Minister saying that Jaitley will come out of this like L K Advani in the Jain Hawala case. I will remind Jaitley that Advani had then resigned and had not come back till he got clean chit from the Supreme Court", Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.

"So the Prime Minister seems to be telling Jaitley that he should not continue as Finance Minister till he gets cleared", he said addressing a joint press conference with party leaders Anand Sharma and Randeep Surjewala.

Striking a similar note, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said by drawing a parallel with Advani, the Prime Minister is giving a hint to Arun Jaitley that he should resign, get himself cleared and come back.

"I read it as a signal to Jaitley that you also do the same thing", he said talking separately to reporters.

In a strong show of support for Jaitley, Modi today said at BJP parliamentary party meet that he will come through "with flying colours" against charges of corruption levelled against him by the opposition in a same way Advani did in the Hawala case.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh also tweeted, "Modi: 'I am sure Arun Jaitley would come out clean as Advaniji did in Hawala case'. But would Jaitley resign as Advaniji did ? No question!"

The BJP was quick to dismiss such claims.

"There is no parallel between charges against Advani and Jaitley. CBI had registered a case, launched a criminal investigation and Advani quit as an MP on moral grounds. There is no criminal probe against Jaitley. These are allegations levelled by opposition which are unsupported by evidence.

"In fact, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office probe was carried out into these allegations when Congress was in power. It stated that there was no fraud or cheating. Due to political rivalry, Congress is ignoring its government's inquiry. It has no moral right to level such a charge," BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma said.