Mehsana (Gujarat): Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi got Rs 40 crore in kickbacks from a corporate house when he was the Gujarat Chief Minister. The BJP denied the charge.
"You didn't allow me to speak in Parliament. You were not ready to stand in front of us in Parliament. Don't know what was the reason," Gandhi told a rally in Mehsana.
"He got the kickbacks in nine instalments over a period of six months. On November 22, 2014, there was a raid on Sahara company. The Income Tax Department raided them and seized their records," he said.
Gandhi said there were entries which showed that on October 30, 2013 Rs 2.50 crore was given to Modi, on November 12 Rs 5 crore was given to Modi, on November 27 Rs 2.5 crore was given to Modi and on November 29 Rs 5 crore was given to him.
"These are all in records of the Income Tax department," Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said between December 6, 2013 and February 22, 2014, Rs 25 crore was given to Modi. In six months, the Sahara diary showed nine payments to Modi.
"This record is with the Income Tax Department for the past two-and-a-half years. The Income Tax people had said there should be a probe into this.
"But why an inquiry hasn't been done for so long?" Gandhi asked.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) denied the corruption allegations hurled at Modi. "Our Prime Minister is as pure as the Ganga," party leader and cabinet minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in New Delhi. The allegations levelled by Gandhi were earlier taken to the Supreme Court by noted advocate Prashant Bhushan. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also been making the same allegations at public rallies.