The Congress on Thursday hit back at the Narendra Modi government on the issue of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj dragging in the name of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, veteran Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram said that the party was "deeply pained and anguished with the remarks of Sushma Swaraj".
Refuting all allegations made by Swaraj against Rajiv Gandhi in connection with the Bofors deal, the Congress leader cited a Delhi High Court judgement dated February 4, 2004, which ruled that there was no proof to show that the former prime minister took bribes in Bofors case.
"We take strong exception to blatantly false statements made by Sushma Swaraj against Late Rajiv Gandhi," said Chidambaram, adding that the Congress seeks "an unqualified apology from Swaraj".
"Why did she (Sushma Swaraj) not turn to Jaitley to confirm her allegations? It would have given her a rude shock," he added.
The former Union minister also reiterated that Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley did everything in Parliament but give relevant answers on the Lalitgate issue.
Alleging that Swaraj kept her ministry in the dark about her intervention in the Lalit Modi issue, Chidambaram said he "did not understand the hide-and-seek about the release of letters exchanged between the finance ministers of India and UK".
"Why are Jaitley, Swaraj revealing few text of the letter and not the full letter?" said Chidambaram, adding that the Congress would "continue to demand answers".
Later, responding to a question on opposition attack that the Congress was trying to protect one family, the former Union minister said that "instead, the Congress was against concentration of power in one person – Narendra Modi".
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