In a major embarrassment for the Narendra Modi government, new revelations showed that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje allegedly helped former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi get permit to stay in the United Kingdom.
Raje allegedly filed application backing Modi in 2011 when she was the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly.
The papers released by Modi's team revealing Raje's role said that the testimony is conditional and it will not be known to Indian authorities.
The three-page paper read, "I make this statement with support of any immigration/application that Lalit Modi makes. But do so on the strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authority.”
The Chief Minister is yet to react to the allegations.
It was also revealed that Vasundhara Raje government signed an Memorandum of Understanding with the Portugal hospital where Modi's wife was treated. The government signed an MoU with Lisbon-based Champalimaud Foundation and it was done in the presence of the Chief Minister.
The MoU was signed on October 2, 2014, two months after Modi's wife underwent treatment for cancer. The state government has allotted 35,000 square feet of land to the Portugal hospital.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has been in a tight spot after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj admitted that she had no objection to Modi's request to be allowed to travel out of UK and spoke to this effect with British MP Keith Vaz and the British High Commissioner. Sushma clarified that she had intervened on humanitarian grounds as Modi's wife needed treatment in Portugal.
Senior CPM leader Brinda Karat hit out at Vasundhara saying, "The message that goes to rest of the world is that the Indian leaders can go to any extend to protect their friends."
With the opposition going all out to attack the NDA government, the Congress claimed that it was not just about travel papers, but about the protection being given to "a criminal" by the NDA government.
Dismissing Swaraj's claim that her act was driven on humanitarian grounds, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said that the "humanitarian cause" point was a "false tear jerker".
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