Raje to stay put for now, Modi, Shah take stock

The significant development came after Raje had spoken to party chief Amit Shah over phone on June 17 to explain her position. Cornered over former IPL chairman Lalit Modi’s revelations about his closeness to top BJP leaders, including Raje and Sushma Swaraj, Shah discussed the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night and preferred to adopt a “wait and watch” policy before taking any extreme step.

The party’s decision of silently defending Raje became evident after she “purposely” decided to stay away from the 350th Foundation Day of Shri Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, where she was supposed to meet Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

However, Raje’s press advisor claimed that she had cancelled her visit due to back pain. 

“Her doctor has advised her to take rest, so she has cancelled her visit to Punjab today,” he said.

Sources said the senior central leadership, including Shah, wanted her to stay away from the event in Punjab to avoid media scrutiny. On Friday, even the party spokesperson Sudhandu Trivedi, while interacting with media, hinted that Raje’s Chief Ministerial position is safe. 

He said: “The credibility of documents showing her (Raje) written support for Modi’s UK immigration plea is yet to be verified. She has not denied her close family links with Lalit Modi, but the documents in public domain are yet to be verified.” In the context of Dushyant, he said: “All the facts about his company are already in public domain as they find a mention in his IT returns and election affidavit.”

On Thursday, Shah, who had gone to PM’s residence along with a delegation of UP farmers had a detailed discussion with him.

Sources said, PM expressed concern over the controversies, which were denting the government’s positive image and feared its ripples would be felt in the next parliament session scheduled in the third week of July.

Yesterday, Shah, who had gone to PM’s residence along with a delegation of UP farmers, stayed back and had a detailed discussion with him and reportedly decided not to act immediately over the controversies.

Sources said, PM expressed concern over the controversies, which were denting the government’s positive image and feared its ripples would be felt in the next parliament session scheduled in the third week of July. The government is likely to place several bills including the one on Land Acquisition. However, in the present situation, the Opposition will not allow the session to function normally unless the PM breaks his silence on the Lalit Modi case.

Meanwhile, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi visited Swaraj’s residence and extended his support to her on Friday.