Lalit Modi visa row: Top 10 points in Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje controversy | The Financial Express
Former IPL chief, Lalit Modi has made some explosive claims which have dragged Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje into the Union Minister Sushma Swaraj conflict of interest controversy. Lalit Modi’s revelations came in an interview he gave to Rajdeep Sardesai of India Today TV channel. The comments of the tainted former IPL Commissioner assume significance because they came hours after it was reported that Vasundhara Raje had given a “Witness Statement” in August, 2011 to British authorities supporting his case for immigration in Britain which he made his base after fleeing from India where he faces charges of money laundering and FEMA violations. Here are the top 10 points as revealed by the man himself: (PTI)
1. Lalit Modi-Vasundhara Raje row: Former IPL chief said Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje had supported in writing his immigration plea in Britain. (The document had a confidentiality clause in which Raje purportedly supported Modi’s case but did not want it to be revealed to Indian authorities.) (PTI)
3. Lalit Modi-Vasundhara Raje row: “My wife was being taken to Portugal by whom, by Mrs Vasundhara Raje. Nobody knows that, I am putting that on record now,” Modi said, adding she accompanied his wife Minal in 2012 and 2013. (Raje became chief minister of Rajasthan for the second time in December, 2013.) (PTI)
4. Lalit Modi row: The former IPL chief was also quoted as having said that he was helped by NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel and Congress leader Rajiv Shukla. Shukla said he had not talked to Modi for three years while Pawar said he tried to convince the former IPL chief to return to India and face investigations. (PTI)
5. Lalit Modi-Vasundhara Raje row: “My relationship with Vasundhara Raje goes back 30 years. That relationship is known to everybody. She is a close friend of the family and my wife for a long time…She openly agreed to be (to be a witness), but unfortunately by the time the case went to trial, she was already chief minister, so she did not come to become a witness. The statements she gave is all on records in the courts. Raje and Sushma supported me when my wife was sick.” (Vasundhara Raje’s purported “witness statement” was made public earlier on Tuesday on behalf of the Lalit Modi camp but later tonight the Chief Minister said she was not aware of this document.) (PTI)
(Image Caption: Members of Youth Congress hold posters and protest against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the row over helping former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi obtain British travel papers, in Bengaluru.)6. Lalit Modi-Sushma Swaraj row: (when asked about his relationship with Sushma Swaraj) “It was a family, a legal whatever you may call it. We were very close. But the point is not that…I am very close to a lot of politicians, not only Mrs Sushma Swaraj…,” revealed the former IPL chief. (PTI)
7. Lalit Modi-Sushma Swaraj row: “I know Swaraj Kaushal (Sushma’s husband) for 20 years. He has been my advocate for 20 years…his daughter Bansuri had been my advocate for four years,” said Lalit Modi. (Sushma Swaraj found herself at the centre of a political firestorm after the UK-based Sunday Times reported a “leaked conversation” between influential Labour MP Keith Vaz and head of UK Visas and Immigration Sarah Rapson that cited Swaraj to facilitate travel documents for Lalit Modi.) (PTI)
(Image Caption: Youth Congress members being detained by the police during their protest against union Minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence in New Delhi on Monday. Swaraj facilitated former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi’s travel to Portugal for his wife’s treatment last year.)8. Lalit Modi row: To a question, Modi said he was not travelling to India because of security concerns. Asked about his holiday in the famous Ibiza resort three days after the surgery of his wife, Modi said the family decided to celebrate because the “revolutionary treatment” received at the Portugal medical centre helped her because the liver cancer she was suffering from was in the final stage. (PTI)
9. Lalit Modi row: Former IPL commissioner said he had done no wrong and has always gone by the book and that he has paid all his dues. Modi said he has been taken to task by the previous UPA government and asserted he was no “fugitive”. (PTI)
(Image Caption: Youth Congress members being taken away in a bus by the police during their protest against union Minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence in New Delhi on Monday. Swaraj facilitated former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi’s travel to Portugal for his wife’s treatment last year.)10. Lalit Modi row: The former IPL chief also accused the UPA government of making him a target of “political vendetta” in the aftermath of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor losing his ministerial job following the IPL scam. (PTI)
(Image Caption: A policeman extinguishes a burning effigy of Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj during a protest against the foreign minister, organised by the All India Mahila Congress, women’s wing of India.)SAGITTARIUS You will finally convince other people that you do need their help and support. At work you may concentrate on the long-term picture, and don’t let trivial details obscure your vision. And you should get on with… read more
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क्या सुषमा स्वराज और वसुंधरा राजे पर कोई कार्रवाई होगी? सरकार के एक साल पूरे होने पर पीएम मोदी ने अपने इस कर्यकाल को बेदाग बताया था, लेकिन इसी एक साल के कार्यकाल में हुआ ये फैसला मोदी सरकार के लिए विवादों की बड़ी वजह बन गया है. विपक्ष सुषमा स्वराज और वसुंधरा राजे दोनों के इस्तीफे की मांग पर अड़ा हुआ है. पूर्व वित्त मंत्री पी चिदंबरम ने प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस कर सरकार से सात सवाल पूछे हैं. सवाल ये है कि क्या मोदी सरकार कोई कार्रवाई करेगी? विदेश मंत्री सुषमा स्वराज और राजस्थान की मुख्यमंत्री वसुंधरा राजे के इस्तीफे की मांग को लेकर कांग्रेस ने मोर्चा खोल रखा …
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