In the midst of a raging controversy over her link with former IPl commissioner lalit Modi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is likely to meet BJP chief Amit Shah to clarify her position. Raje is facing charges of “secretly” endorsing lalit Modi’s application for immigration to the UK in August 2011.
Sources said on Wednesday that Raje spoke to Amit Shah on phone and briefly placed her version before him. She has sought an appointment with the party chief to clarify in details charges that include disclosure that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing financial dealing between lalit Modi and Raje’s son Dushyant Singh, an MP from Jahalwar in Rajasthan.
lalit Modi dragged Raje into the controversy after his lawyer issued a three-page Press release on Monday night in which he claimed that the Rajasthan Chief Minister had endorsed his client’s application for immigration to the UK in 2011. late on Tuesday night, lalit Modi further claimed that Raje had accompanied his wife to Portugal for treatment also.
In the centre of the controversy is the purported document, which states: “I make this statement in support of any immigration application that lalit Modi makes, but do so on the strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authorities.”
The document is dated August 18, 2011, when Raje was the leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly and lalit Modi faced corruption charges in connection with the IPl money laundering case.
While lalit Modi claimed in a TV interview on Tuesday night that a signed letter by Raje was submitted in the UK court, the documents released by his lawyer did not bear his signature.
“Of course I know the family (of lalit Modi), but I do not know what documents are being discussed,” Raje told reporters Tuesday evening. Sources close to her say the document is not verified; it has no signatures.
Raje purportedly says in the document: “I make this statement in support of any immigration application that lalit Modi makes, but do so on the strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authorities.”
The document is dated August 18 2011, nearly a year after allegations of corruption surfaced against lalit Modi in connection with the multi-billion dollar IPl or Indian Premier league.
Reacting to charges faced by Raje, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “in the documents which have come on television, there is no signature”.
Meanwhile, reports said that the ED’s ongoing probe into the lalit Modi’s money laundering activities has shown that Raje son Dushyant Singh, an MP from Jhalawar-Baran, was hugely benefited from a mysterious share swap deal with lalit Modi.
Report said that in 2008, lalit Modi gave Rs 3.2 crore of unsecured loan to a company owned by Dushyant and went on to acquire 815 shares in Dushyant’s company at premium of Rs 96,000 per share. The shares were priced at Rs 10 each. In this way, Rs 11.6 crore was transferred to Dushyant by lalit Modi.
The ED is probing whether Dushyant’s company-- Niyant Heritage Hotels Pvt ltd (NHHPl) -- has enough assets to justify such premium valuation.
In an interview to India Today Channel, lalit Modi said, “My wife was being taken to Portugal by whom, by Mrs Vasundhara Raje. Nobody knows that, I am putting that on record now.” He said Raje accompanied his wife Minal in 2012 and 2013.
Incidentally, in October 2014 the Vasundhara Government signed an MoU with the Portugal hospital where Modi’s wife was treated for setting up its unit in the State.