New Delhi/Jaipur: Pressure is mounting on Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to quit a day after fresh documents released by the Congress showed she had indeed testified in favour of scam-tainted former IPL chief Lalit Modi.
Documents released earlier had established that Raje supported Modi's immigration application in the UK along with a condition that the same should not be revealed before the Indian authorities.
On Wednesday, the Congress released a signed statement that was submitted in a UK court in 2011 and in which Raje supports any immigration application by Modi.
As per the documents released by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh yesterday, 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".
"Given my close understanding of, and involvement in Indian politics, I have absolutely no doubt that the broad, full frontal attack that Lalit is currently facing in India is politically motivated," she had said in her witness statement before the British authorities.
She insisted that the Congress party was "destroying" and "discrediting" Modi.
"In the course of doing so by virtue of my association with him, they hope to politically discredit me as well," she said in the witness statement given on August 18, 2011.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister said the information contained in the statement was "true, correct and accurate" to the best of her knowledge and belief.
The statement had a 'confidentiality notice', insisting that it is provided on the "strict understanding that its contents and the identity of its maker are treated confidentially and that it is used only for the purposes stated in it".
"I make this statement in support of any immigration application that Lalit Modi makes, but do on a strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authorities," Raje, who gave this undertaking as the then Opposition Leader of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, said.
In the statement, Raje said she was also aware that Modi, in the context of his role as IPL founder and chairman, had major run-ins with prominent Central government ministers.
"I will not comment upon those conflicts as they have never involved me directly. What is clear, however, is that they have only served to exacerbate Lalit's difficulties with the ruling Congress party," she said in her witness statement.
After releasing the document, the Congress yesterday said that Raje stood "exposed completely" while batting for a "fugitive".
It further accused Raje of "repeatedly lying" and demanded her immediate resignation.
"The curtains are off, the secret is out. The document signed by Vasundhara Raje dated August 18, 2011 supporting his immigration case before the British government is out. When the issue came out first, she feigned ignorance and then said she does not remember," Ramesh told reporters at an AICC briefing.
"BJP has always maintained that if papers are produced with her signature, then she is culpable. There is no need of any more evidence, Vasundhara Raje stands thoroughly exposed," Ramesh said.
Ramesh said the Congress seeks her immediate resignation as she has broken four laws - Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Corruption Act, PMLA, Passport Act, while batting for a "bhagora" (fugitive).
Displaying the seven-page document having 21 points, he said, "This has never happened in independent India before where a former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition has batted for a fugitive".
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramesh said, "The government which advocates propriety and zero tolerence to corruption should immediately seek her resignation. The Prime Minister who used to speak so much on these issues one year back has been silent and has gone into a shell".
With the Lalit Modi controversy snowballing into a bigger row by the day, Ramesh also demanded the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had helped Modi secure travel documents for him in the UK.
The BJP reacted with caution, with its spokesperson Sambit Patra saying the party "will not run away" from the issue and look into the new disclosure.
"We will not run away... The party will do whatever is necessary to see to it that truth comes out in the open," Patra said.
Sources meanwhile said the BJP has given Raje an ultimatum of 24 hours to explain he rolw following the fresh expose.
(With Agency inputs)
