New Delhi, June 17 (IANS) Continuing his attack on the BJP over the Sushma Swaraj-Lalit Modi row, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday said that the external affairs minister must clarify if she met the former IPL chief at a London hotel last year minus representatives of the Indian High Commission.
“Is it a fact that Sushma ji met Keith Vaz and Lalit Modi in the London hotel without any representatives from Indian High Commission? She must clarify,” Singh posted on Twitter amid media reports that Sushma Swaraj met Lalit Modi in London in October last year at a private dinner.
NDTV news channel, quoting sources, said that Sushma met Lalit Modi, who is wanted by the Indian Enforcement Directorate for alleged financial impropriety, at a small, private dinner hosted by hotelier Joginder Sanger, the owner of the Kensington hotel where Sushma was staying during an official trip for the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas.
The channel quoted sources in Sushmaa’s office as saying that since the private dinner began close to midnight when Sushma landed in London, High Commissioner Ranjan Mathai was not present or invited.
Digvijay also said that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje must “come clean” following allegations that she testified in favour of Lalit Modi’s British immigration application in 2011.
Singh also alleged, through tweets, that the television interview Lalit Modi gave on Tuesday night “confirms my guess the whole story scripted by Bada Modi and delivered by Chote Modi”.
In the interview, former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi said he shared close relations with Sushma Swaraj and also with Vasundhara Raje.
Sushma Swaraj is facing flak for helping Lalit Modi procure documents to travel to Portugal for treatment of his cancer-stricken wife last year.
Though Sushma clarified that she helped Lalit Modi on “humanitarian grounds”, the opposition has been demanding that she quit as union minister.