Now, Lalit Modi drags Priyanka, Vadra in the row

Vibha Sharma

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 26

Amid the raging controversy about BJP leaders’ links with him, IPL former commissioner Lalit Modi’s latest tweets about meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi and son-in-law Robert Vadra in London today landed the grand old party on the defensive.

In a series of tweets, Lalit Modi said: “Happy to meet the Gandhi Family… in London. I had run into Robert and Priyanka separately in a restaurant. They were with Timmy Sarna. “He has my no. They can call me. Will tell them what I feel about them exactly. Will mince no words. Will make no deal. But tell them witch hunt, will now make them realize I was.

“If I remember correctly it was last year and the year before. Doubt either reported it to anyone. They were in power then (sic)”. Notably, Timmy Sarna is the managing director of DLF Brands. In a war of words that ensued between the two parties, the BJP asked Sonia to explain why her daughter and her son-in-law met Modi, a man wanted in several cases by the Indian government.

The Congress, in turn, called Lalit Modi’s tweets a “diversionary attempts” to help the Narendra Modi government by taking the focus away from Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj — the two BJP leaders who helped the IPL former commissioner with travel documents and immigration in the UK.

Trying to pressure the BJP to sack Swaraj and Raje, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala termed it a case of “chhota Modi” helping “bada Modi” (Narendra Modi) with “lies”. BJP’s Sambit Patra called it a confirmation of Gandhi family links with Lalit Modi.

“The Congress must explain. Why Mrs Gandhi is silent,” questioned Patra, alleging that “these links saved Lalit Modi from extradition under the UPA rule… the matter starts and ends at the door of 10, Janpath (the residence of Sonia Gandhi),” he said.

However, as per Surjewala, Lalit Modi was trying to rescue the BJP-led government by “creating red herring and using diversionary tactics”. “He (Lalit Modi) says he ran into Priayanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra. The BJP should tell its black money stooges to not rely on red herrings to divert attention from the issue.

“I can say with full responsibility that neither Priyanka Gandhi nor Robert Vadra ever interacted with Lalit Modi socially. If you see somebody in a restaurant, it is not a crime,” Surjewala added.