Break silence on Lalit Modi, Vyapam: Congress asks PM

The Congress on Thursday trained its guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for keeping a "conspiratorial silence" on the Lalit Modi controversy and Vyapam scam.

"The prime minister is the head of the country and not just the party (BJP). He should have sent a message. Does the prime minister of this country wait for two months for parliament to convene to speak?" Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

He said though Modi was active on all social fora like networking sites, he has not spoken on the Lalit Modi issue and the Vyapam scam.

Commenting on the government's refusal to discuss the Vyapam scam, Singhvi said the government has maintained that the scam was a state matter but the truth was that the ramifications were countrywide.

The logjam in parliament over the demand for the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and chief ministers of BJP-ruled Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh continued for the fourth consecutive day on Friday.

Singhvi said the government was insisting that the prime minister would speak only in parliament. "But can he not speak outside also?"