Congress leader sought passport for coal-scam accused, Sushma Swaraj says

TNN

New Delhi, 22 Jul 2015: In a bid to blunt the opposition attack against her in Lalitgate, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday launched a counteroffensive against the Congress.

 

In a tweet, Sushma said she will name a Congress leader who approached her for a diplomatic passport for coal scam-accused Santosh Bagrodia. However, she did not name the leader.

 

On Tuesday, former minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia was summoned as accused by a special court in connection with a coal scam case pertaining to allocation of Maharashtra’s Bander coal block to AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd.

 

"A senior Congress leader was pressing me hard to give diplomatic passport to coal scam-accused Santosh Bagrodia," Sushma said.

 

The entire opposition stalled the proceedings of Rajya Sabha on Tuesday demanding resignation of Sushma Swaraj for helping Lalit Modi.

 

The opposition rejected government’s offer to debate the issue and insisted that Sushma first resign.

 

The opposition storm led to a complete washout of proceedings in Rajya Sabha on Day 1 of the monsoon session.