In a repeat attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the Ishrat Jahan issue, BJP on Tuesday suggested that the Congress president had asked the then Home Minister P Chidambaram to file a second affidavit in the case as the UPA could “tolerate terrorists but not Narendra Modi as Prime Minister”.
Party spokesperson Sambit Patra at a press conference here demanded Chidambaram to name the “culprit” who asked him to change the affidavit in which references to Ishrat being an leT operative and a threat to the life of Modi, the then Gujarat’s Chief Minister, were made.
“Mr P Chidambram, let the nation know who is she who wrote the conspiracyIJ Because we all know that in the Congress party diktats come from a singular address. You know the address. The remote control lies with her,” he said, making a clear reference to the Congress president.
He alleged that Sonia, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram “suppressed” information provided by the NIA and the FBI, the US probe agency, about Ishrat being a terrorist and a threat to Modi’s life.
“Why did you suppress itIJ What was the needIJ Because you could not tolerate these two persons (Modi and Amit Shah). You could not tolerate him as you feared him becoming the Prime Minister. You tolerated terrorists.
“P Chidambaram’s conspiracy has been blown off. The conspiracy to eliminate important leaders from India, conspiracy to eliminate Narendra Modi, conspiracy to fail Amit Shah. The lid has been blown off and you today have been caught red-handed,” Patra said.
The UPA Government’s action hit at the root of democracy, he alleged, saying it knew that Ishrat was a suicide bomber deputed by the leT to eliminate Modi.
“Not only did they keep quiet but they conspired to stand with terrorists,” he said.
Ishrat was killed in an encounter by Gujarat police in 2004.
On Monday Union Minister and senior BJP leader NIrmala Sitaraman had attacked the Congress president and vice-president Rahul and sought their accountability for filing “a false affidavit” in the court.