Will go to jail if signatures on letter to Obama are forged: Md Adeeb

Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury denied having signed any letter seeking denial of US visa for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: In a new twist to the controversy, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday denied having signed any letter seeking denial of US visa for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Yechury`s denial has left Mohammed Adeeb, Independent MP from Rajya Sabha, fuming. Mohammed Adeeb had taken the initiative for this campaign in which 65 Members of Parliament had written letters to US President Barack Obama, urging the US Administration to maintain the current policy of denying visa to Modi. Expressing shock at Yechury`s denial, Mohammed Adeeb said he would welcome a probe into the whole matter. He added that he would resign from the Rajya Sabha and go to jail if signatures on letter to Obama are found to be forged. He also advised Yechury to refresh his memory, saying the senior CPI(M) leader signed the letter "in front of Rajya Sabha with his own pen". The controversy intensified with several lawmakers, besides Yechury, now claiming that their signatures were forged. Another MP KP Ramalingam of DMK has also denied signing any letter to US President Barack Obama. Sanjay Naik of the Nationalist Congress Party has said he is, by mistake, listed as a Rajya Sabha member. Copies of the letters were provided by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) as BJP chief Rajnath Singh, reached Washington to meet US lawmakers, think tanks and US government officials during which he said he will urge the Americans to lift the ban on visa for Modi. The US administration had imposed the visa ban on Modi after the 2002 post-Godhra riots.