After Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Thursday reportedly admitted to the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership that she supported former IPL chief Lalit Modi’s immigration application in the UK along with a condition that the same should not be revealed before the Indian authorities has given chance to Congress Party to sharpen its attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Thursday took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and questioned his silence on the issue. Congress leaders said that Narendra Modi had not spoken about the Lalit Modi controversy to the public as it is a collective responsibility.
As per sources, Raje admitted that she signed a statement submitted in the UK court in 2011, which said she backed any immigration plea of the former IPL commissioner.
On Wednesday, the Congress released a signed statement that was submitted in a UK court and in which Raje pledged to support any immigration application by Lalit Modi.
Meanwhile, the Congress continues to mount pressure on the BJP demanding Raje’s resignation over the ‘Lalitgate’ row.
Mounting pressure on the BJP, the Congress today said that the ruling party has no other option but to sack her.
While addressing a press conference, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said his party will even go to the President if the BJP fails to act. He also threatened an unprecedented agitation in the entire state if Raje is not removed.
As per the documents released by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, Raje – in the witness statement submitted in the UK court in 2011 – had backed the immigration plea of Lalit Modi contending she had no doubt that the frontal attack he was facing in India then was “politically motivated”.
Dismissing as being “lame” BJP’s claim that Raje’s signatures on the said document are forged, Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said, “I don’t think it is possible for anyone to put up that lame an argument. And, if she had to deny the signatures, she should have done it perhaps in the beginning.”
Demanding Raje’s resignation, Pilot said that the issue has not been brought up by the Congress but due to Lalit Modi’s actions. He said that as a political party it is Congress’s job to bring such things into light. “Her hiding this issue shows that she knew that she was breaking the law,” he further stated.
“She knows that the signature is hers and she has never denied it. So, I don’t think at this late stage to come out and say that they are forged or falsified, that’s really something that nobody is going to buy. And I hope BJP will also not buy that argument.”
Pilot said that BJP is trying to “buy time” and not clearly defending the Rajasthan Chief Minister. “Unfortunately for them (BJP), they have to realise the inescapable truth is that she has broken the law. She has transgressed Indian law knowingly and the flying statement which shows that she was trying to help Lalit Modi get travel documents is in violation of Indian law and by no account can the BJP continue to defend the indefensible,” he said.
