Embattled Raje in Delhi, may meet BJP leaders

Embattled Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje arrived in the national capital on Saturday to attend a NITI Aayog meeting and is also likely to meet the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass amidst mounting opposition pressure for her resignation in connection with the Lalit Modi controversy.

Raje has travelled to the national capital a day after Rajasthan BJP refuted all the allegations being levelled at her, saying on Friday that the document which she signed in support of Modi’s immigration application to the UK government was never produced in court as she had backed out of it later.

The state unit of the party also claimed that Modi’s investment in the chain of hotels owned by her son was legal and had been disclosed to authorities.

The top leadership of the party is learnt to have accepted Raje’s defence as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met BJP chief Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday over the issue.         

Congress has accused Raje of quid pro quo in helping Modi and launched a relentless attack on her, demanding her resignation.

Raje has maintained silence over the raging row even though her office has termed the allegations “untrue”, claiming that they were aimed at harming her politically.

BJP for its part has said it “fully supports” her. The party has called her its tallest and most popular leader in the state, where she has led the party to its biggest assembly and Lok Sabha wins.

At a press conference in BJP office in Jaipur on Friday, Rajasthan Medical and Health Minister RS Rathore had said that Raje will also attend a NITI-Aayog sub-committee meeting on Saturday.

Raje was scheduled to visit London from June 27 to July 2 but cancelled her UK tour early this week in view of the NITI Aayog meet.