BJP snubs Vasundhara Raje as she cancels Punjab visit due to 'health reasons'

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who has been caught in the middle of the Lalit Modi controversy, on Friday cancelled her visit to Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, where she was supposed to share stage with BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. “Due to back pain, the Chief Minster’s doctor has advised her to take rest so she has cancelled her visit to Punjab today,” Raje’s press advisor said. This development comes at a time when speculation has raged over whether the BJP leadership would discuss with her the issue of her continuance in the wake of damaging disclosures that she had allegedly signed a secret witness document favouring Lalit Modi’s immigration plea in a London court. Moreover, none of the BJP central leaders have come to her defence in the last 48 hours since the controversy came out in public. [caption id=“attachment_2302704” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Vasundhara Raje and Rajnath Singh. PTI[/caption] Sources close to Raje had told PTI on Thursday that she will participate in the celebrations of 350 years of Anandpur Sahib, one of the key shrines of Sikhs. But o “As per the programme, she is slated to go to Punjab tomorrow,” a state official had said. Raje had spoken to Shah over phone on Wednesday to explain her position in the row involving former IPL boss Lalit Modi who claimed she had supported his immigration plea in Britain. Party sources said Raje sought to explain her ties between the two families and her friendship with Modi’s wife but the documents being circulated in the media were “unverified and unsigned”. The Congress has been demanding Raje’s immediate resignation along with that of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, saying they have no right to continue in office after helping the former IPC Chairman who is facing money laundering and other charges. As Sandipan Sharma wrote yesterday, “The BJP’s problem is that it has realised Raje’s case is indefensible. The financial transactions between her son, Jhalawar MP Dushyant Singh, and Modi are almost similar to the deals between Vadra and DLF. The paper trail shows that he got nearly Rs 11 crore for a company that exists just on paper through the Mauritius route. This is a classic case of round-tripping of money and the paper trail points to slush funds being laundered. The BJP will look stupid defending an encore of Vadragate.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has maintained a strange silence over the issue, met Amit Shah late last night to get briefed on the issue. According to reports, they tried to come up with a counter to the Opposition’s demand for Sushma Swaraj’s resignation. (With inputs from Agencies)