Headlines
Congress fires fresh salvo at Raje, Rajasthan BJP defends her
New Delhi/Jaipur, June 26
Stepping up attack
for resignation of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Congress
on Friday alleged that she had "financial dealings" with former IPL
chief Lalit Modi but the BJP's state unit continued to defend her
strongly.
With the allegations faced by Raje threatening to
derail the monsoon session of parliament beginning next month, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on the issue.
External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is also facing demands for her
resignation over her help in getting British travel documents to Lalit
Modi, who is being probed in India for alleged tax evasion.
Meanwhile,
providing a new twist, Lalit Modi tweeted on Friday that he had run
into Congress president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka and her husband
Robert Vadra in a London restaurant last year, triggering demands from
the BJP for an explanation from the Congress chief.
The Congress,
which held two press conferences in New Delhi to build pressure for
resignation of Raje, alleged that she had "direct financial dealing with
a fugitive".
"The chief minister is a business partner with a
fugitive," said Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar, claiming Raje and
Lalit Modi had shares in Niyant Hotels Pvt Ltd, a company belonging to
her son and BJP MP Dushyant Singh.
"She does not have right to
stay in the office for a single day. I want to ask the BJP if she does
not resign now when will she," Kumar asked.
He also targeted Narendra Modi over allegations surrounding Raje, saying that "he had promised not to allow corruption".
Jaitley,
in his meetings with Shah and Narendra Modi, discussed the party's
strategy in view of opposition's unrelenting attack on Raje.
A party source said the leadership has decided to back Raje while tightening the noose on Lalit Modi in the cases faced by him.
Jaitley
had returned from a week-long visit to the US on Thursday and had told
reporters in answer to questions on Raje and Sushma Swaraj that there is
"nobody who is tainted".
In Jaipur, Rajasthan BJP chief Ashok
Parnami and state minister Rajendra Rathore, referring to the document
cited by the Congress as evidence, said it only had Raje's signatures on
the last page and was signed when Lalit Modi had not been declared a
fugitive.
"It is a draft (of deposition). It has no meaning. As a
proof, it has neither benefited Lalit Modi or his family... the
document has not been produced in a court by the chief minister,"
Parnami said.
Rathore said that the entire BJP in Rajasthan as
also the central leadership were with Raje. "She is our undisputed
leader," he said.
Raje's office also came down heavily on TV
channels saying that "some of them are showing baseless and untrue
reports" pertaining to the chief minister. "Today also, some of the
channels are showing baseless, misleading and unsubstantiated reports," a
statement issued by the press advisor to the chief minister said. His
office had issued a statement on similar lines on Thursday.
"The news that signature of 120 MLAs have been taken in support of Raje is completely untrue," the statement said.
In
his tweet, Lalit Modi said: "Happy to meet the Gandhi family in London.
I had run into Robert (Vadra) and Priyanka separately in a restaurant."
He said the couple was with Timmy Sarna, who is with DLF Brands
Ltd. "If I remember correctly, it was last year and the year before.
Doubt either reported it to anyone. They were in power then," he said.
Congress
spokesperson Randeep Surjewala defended the Vadras, saying: "Looking at
each other in a resturant is neither a crime nor morally improper."
But the BJP sprang into attack mode.
"The Congress must explain. Why is Mrs Gandhi silent," asked party spokesperson Sambit Patra.