 "Rajasthan BJP defends Vasundhara Raje")
While the central Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the government didn’t make any public statements on the issue, Rajasthan’s BJP MLAs held a press conference in Jaipur to proclaim their support for the CM. The Congress questioned Modi’s silence on the issue and demanded that both Raje and Swaraj should quit.
Rajasthan minister Rajendra Rathore claimed the national BJP and the central government were with Raje and that her quitting was out of question. But the state leaders said Raje’s son Dushyant Singh, a Lok Sabha MP, should present his defence on revelations that Lalit Modi invested in a company owned by him.
Raje is scheduled to attend a function at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab on Friday. Rajnath Singh and BJP President Amit Shah will also attend the event to celebrate 350 years of the Sikh shrine of Anandpur Sahib. Raje’s office on Thursday denied that she had sought a meeting with Shah. Some reports had suggested that the BJP chief had refused to meet her. It also refuted reports that 30 BJP MLAs were in Delhi to canvass support for Raje among BJP leaders.
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Chief of Congress Rajasthan unit Sachin Pilot led protests in the state against Raje on Thursday. “The chief Minister’s case is proved beyond doubt. Her act is enough to book her under sections of the anti corruption law and Indian Penal Code. By backing a ‘fugitive’ in such a manner, she has also proved her complicity. This is an open and shut case,” Pilot said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury also said the controversy exposed the government’s claim of being corruption free.