Cong seeks Vajpayee8217;s resignation on sugargate scam

He charged that Vajpayee was lying about the sugargate scam as the Government8217;s records themselves spoke of continued import of sugar from Pakistan till June 1999.

8220;When credible reports outnumber the denials, no amount of exit polls is going to change the ground reality. That ground reality speaks for itself,8221; he said.

Vajpayee can no longer hide behind his 8220;bogus8221; plea that there was no prima facie evidence of his wrong-doing in the scam when 8220;credible reports of his underhand dealings with Pakistanis on the sugar front8230;.outnumber the untenable denials by the Government and the BJP functionaries8221; Sibal said.

8220;It is time for Vajpayee to come clean,8221; Sibal said, adding that the Prime Minister should take a reality check that will show how 8220;ridiculous his lies come out in the face of the truth8221;.

Quoting foreign trade statistics, Sibal said the Vajpayee Government should stop taking the people for a ride as it imported 56,295 tonnes of sugar, paying foreign currency worth Rs 54.32 crores, during the three month period of April 1999 to June 1999.

He said the Government had also ignored the suggestion made by the Food Minister to raise import duties up to 40 per cent, with the objective to enforce buffer stock limits and regulate releases of imported sugar.