NEW DELHI: The Congress is trying to make it politically prohibitive for Narendra Modi to retain Sushma Swaraj in his Cabinet, with Rahul Gandhi on Monday wading into "Modigate" to allege that the Prime Minister was defending the foreign minister since she had done his bidding by helping Lalit Modi.

"It appears that she (Swaraj) has the tacit support of PM Modi for what she did," Rahul said in Chhattisgarh. "The government, and the country, is run by Modi alone. No other person matters. Why should one wait for her resignation? The minister should be sacked from the cabinet," he said, and took a dig at the PM, saying, "One Modi is standing by another Modi."

The line of attack tied in with the overall Congress offensive to use the row to target the PM; the tactic was also reflected in spokesman Randeep Surjewala's remark: "Modi will lose the moral authority to be PM if it is proved that he had given direct or tacit approval in helping Lalit Modi."

The pressure on foreign minister Swaraj was not lifted as Surjewala demanded her prosecution for allegedly helping a "criminal", but it was clear that PM Modi had replaced her as Congress's prime target.

The Congress's attempt to drag PM in the line of fire drew a Replica Rolex Datejust strong reaction from the ruling BJP, which accused its rival of lowering the standard of political discourse by spreading lies.

Soon after Rahul's salvo, the BJP fielded Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar for a strong rebuttal. At a hurriedly convened interaction with reporters, Javadekar said the Congress had shown pictures of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah with Lalit Modi to lie that they were taken after the BJP formed government at the Centre.

"The fact is the pictures were clicked at IPL cricket matches in Gujarat in 2009 when Narendra Modi was the CM," said Javadekar. Shah and Modi held official posts in cricket while Lalit was the IPL commissioner.

The pictures had been shown by Surjewala at a media meeting to back up Congress's allegation of a nexus between the PM, Shah and Lalit Modi.

Javadekar said, "If this is an issue, then there are hundreds of pictures of Congress leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajiv Shukla with Lalit Modi." He said there were also pictures of Sonia Gandhi with those accused in the coal scam, the 2G scam and other scandals.

Rubbishing Rahul's demand that the PM sack Swaraj, Javadekar trained his guns at the Congress heir apparent by resurrecting the issue of his mysterious sabbatical. "Where did Rahul Gandhi go when he was on his 56-day vacation? He should tell us," he said.

As the Lalit Modi controversy became a slugfest between the two principal political poles, Congress was insistent on Replica Rolex Cellini aiming at the PM, with the strategy that it would force the PM's hand to sack Swaraj.

Saying that "PM single-handedly runs the foreign ministry with external affairs minister playing a second fiddle", spokesman Surjewala asked, "Would any reasonable person believe that all these actions were being taken by the foreign minister without direct complicity and approval of the PM?"

Congress said the proactive bid to help Lalit Modi was reflected in the government decision not to appeal against the high court order of August 2014 to release his impounded passport.

Accusing Swaraj of helping a criminal in Lalit Modi and demanding that she be booked under IPC for abetting a crime, Congress kept the focus on the top saffron duo. "When the PM is known to keep tabs even over the dinners and attires worn by his ministers, no sane person would believe that Swaraj was acting at her own behest and not with the Replica Breitling Aeromarine express approval of the PM," Surjewala said.

Congress said the UPA government had written two letters to the UK chancellor of exchequer for action against Lalit and reiterated the demand in a personal meeting, while Swaraj chose to overrule them. The party asked if Swaraj could have withdrawn the government communications routed through finance minister without the consent of the PM.

Javadekar said if Lalit Modi was a fugitive, he had absconded during the Congress rule, sharply pointing out that Congress had allowed Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to escape after the Bhopal gas tragedy.