Bihar Deputy CM says he will sue Rahul Gandhi for claiming that all thieves share the Modi surname
However, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed that Sushil Kumar Modi is a thief himself as he is involved in the Srijan scam.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday said he will file a defamation case against Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his remark that all thieves share the Modi surname, PTI reported.
“I was deeply hurt by Rahul Gandhi’s statement wherein he remarked that all those who are chor [thieves] share the Modi surname,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said in Patna. “Besides insulting the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi], he has hurt me personally as I share the same surname. Hence, I would be suing him for defamation.”
However, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav claimed that Sushil Kumar Modi is a “thief” himself. “I have for long been saying that Sushil Kumar Modi is involved in the Srijan scam,” Yadav, who is the son of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, said according to NDTV. “First Sushil Kumar Modi stole the people’s mandate [by allying with the Janata Dal United] and then got involved in the Srijan scam. Let him file a defamation case against me.”
The scam relates to the Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti, a non-governmental organisation, in whose accounts government funds were allegedly fraudulently transferred between 2004 and 2014. The NGO used to provide vocational training to women in Bhagalpur district of Bihar.
Rahul Gandhi, at a rally in Maharashtra’s Nanded on Monday, had wondered how all thieves have “Modi” in their names. He was referring to former Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi, fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi and Narendra Modi. Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the prime minister in recent months, claiming he gave Rs 30,000 crore of taxpayers’ money to businessman Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal.
On Tuesday, Narendra Modi lashed out at Gandhi at a rally in Chhattisgarh’s Korba. “There is a naamdar who said recently that all Modis are thieves,” he said. “Those of you here who are named ‘Sahoo’, if you went to Gujarat, you would be called ‘Modi’. So tell me, are you all thieves?