Rahul takes dig at Modi, Congress demands Rupani's removal

New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a report that SEBI had imposed penalties on several entities, including Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's family, for "manipulative trade", while the party has demanded that Rupani must resign.

"Na khaunga na khane dunga ki kahani. Shah-zada, Shaurya aur ab Vijay Rupani (Another story of 'will not do corruption myself, nor allow others')," Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress demanded that either the Gujarat Chief Minister must resign or Prime Minister Modi should break his "silence" and dismiss him over the allegations.

The party's demand came in the wake of SEBI charging 22 entities, including Rupani's Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), with "manipulative trades" in a little known company Sarang Chemicals.

"Zero tolerance for corruption' has become 'zero tolerance for honesty'. India has witnessed a series of 'scams, scandals and skullduggery' involving sons, daughters and a number of BJP leaders. PM Modi, is however on a 'Maun Vrat' (silent).

"The latest in this series is the brazen malpractice and fraud indulged by Gujarat chief Minister Vijay Rupani's HUF. SEBI has 'indicted and penalized' 22 entities, including HUF, for "manipulative trades" in shares of a company named 'Sarang Chemicals Ltd' (SCL)," said Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh.

Also read: PM Modi to visit Philippines for ASEAN, East Asia Summits

"The SEBI found Rupani's family entity guilty of malpractices and artificial trading whereby the 22 entities shared amongst themselves more than 2 crore shares which were 87.17 per cent of market volume," he added.

The party demanded that Rupani should resign as Chief Minister immediately.

"An investigation should be undertaken about the dubious dealings of Rupani HUF with Sarang Chemicals Ltd. including the reasons and considerations for artificially manipulating the trade volume and consequent price of shares of the company," said Singh.

"Time for Modi to break his silence on corruption and face accountability," he added.