Media screaming, BJP, govt strongly with Sushma Swaraj (Videos)

New Delhi

BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday came in support of Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who admitted to helping controversial IPL founder and enforcement directorate offender Lalit Modi with his travel documents. Shah said that Swaraj helped Lalit Modi on humanitarian ground and there is no moral angle in the issue. The BJP president said that an Indian asked for help from the foreign minister for his wife’s treatment and Swaraj did what she should have done. He further maintained that if parties think that they can get a political output from the issue, they are just wasting their time.

Sushma Swaraj’s statement:

Sometime in July 2014, Lalit Modi spoke to me that his wife was suffering from Cancer and her surgery was fixed for 4th August in Portugal. He told me that he had to be present in the hospital to sign the consent papers.

He informed me that he had applied for travel documents in London and the UK Government was prepared to give him the travel documents. However, they were restrained by a UPA Government communication that this will spoil Indo-UK relations.

Taking a humanitarian view, I conveyed to the British High Commissioner that :

“British Government should examine the request of Lalit Modi as per British rules and regulations. If the British Government chooses to give travel documents to Lalit Modi
– that will not spoil our bilateral relations.”

Keith Vaz also spoke to me and I told him precisely what I told the British High Commissioner.

I genuinely believe that in a situation such as this, giving emergency travel documents to an Indian citizen cannot and should not spoil relations between the two countries.

I may also state that only few days later, Delhi High Court quashed the UPA Government’s order impounding Lalit Modi’s Passport on the ground that the said order was unconstitutional being violative of fundamental rights and he got his Passport back.

Regarding Jyotirmay Kaushal’s admission in a Law course at Sussex University, he secured admission through the normal admission process in 2013 – one year before I became a Minister.

Sushma in further tweets:

He was in London. After his wife’s surgery, he came back to London. What is it that I changed ?

What benefit did I pass on to Lalit Modi – that he could sign consent papers for surgery of his wife suffering from Cancer ?

Former foreign minister asks for apt reason for Sushma’s action, Rajnath says govt standing firm with Sushma

Media screaming:

Most of national English news channels are competing on Sunday to make maximum out of this issue that was first published in British daily a few days back. In article in British newspaper, British MP Keith Vaz was under attack in that article. Thus the issue which our mainstream media describes as ‘scandal’ finds its origination in British politics. Some news channels look schizophrenic on this issue and they demand Swaraj’s resignation. Congress party joined in the circus latter on. Main plank for mainstream media is that why Sushma helped someone who is wanted by India in IPL cricket related scam? While Finance Ministry wants to catch Lalit Modi, why Foreign Ministry should help him? Before becoming minister Lalit Modi had helped then leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj through her husband? There are divisions among mainstream media. India Today reporter Rahul Kanwal tweeted that Times Now sensationalized this issue because in TRP competition rival channel ‘India Today’ took over Times Now.

What is going to happen?

A prominent TV channel demanding Sushma’s resignation will get no favor from government like in past, as the issue has not much substance(read two tweets of Sushma mentioned above). Popular perception is in favour of Sushma as a minister who has helped smallest persons in trouble on foreign land, and not just Lalit Modi. The TV channels and usual suspects may keep screaming, neither people, nor the government much interested in this.

The latest

Times Now news channel has in the evening flashed pictures of Lalit Modi enjoying party with celebrities in Cuba. The channel claims that contrary to Sushma’s claim that Lalit Modi was helped for his wife’s treatment, but instagram pictures show he traveled to partying abroad. Even his travel documents suggest that he can live in Britain, but travel abroad till September 2016.

PTI report

New Delhi

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was today at the centre of a major row over helping scam-tainted former IPL chief Lalit Modi to obtain British travel documents but found strong support from the government and the BJP which rejected opposition demands for her resignation over alleged “impropriety”.

The genesis of the controversy was disclosure of emails showing that she had spoken to Indian-origin British MP Keith Vaz and its High Commissioner here James Bevan favouring the grant of travel documents to Lalit Modi to go to Portugal, purportedly for his wife’s cancer treatment in June last year.

Modi, who is wanted in India, has made London his home since 2010 to avoid a probe for alleged foreign exchange regulation violations in the T20 cricket tournament held in South Africa in 2009. The previous UPA government had revoked his passport and had pressed for his extradition.

According to British media which quoted leaked emails, Vaz cited Swaraj’s name to put pressure on UK’s top immigration official to grant British travel papers to Lalit Modi, who subsequently got the documents in less than 24 hours.

Vaz also offered to help Swaraj’s nephew Jyotirmay Kaushal to apply for a British law degree course, the report said.

After the reports surfaced, 63-year-old Swaraj said in a series of tweets that she had taken a “humanitarian view” and conveyed to the British High Commissioner that they should examine Modi’s request as per their rules and “if the British government chooses to give travel documents to Lalit Modi ? that will not spoil our bilateral relations”.

Facing opposition attack, Swaraj said, “What benefit did I pass on to Lalit Modi – that he could sign consent papers for surgery of his wife suffering from Cancer?… He was in London. After his wife’s surgery, he came back to London. What is it that I changed?”

She also reportedly spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi explaining her position on the issue.

Opposition parties demanded her resignation, alleging grave impropriety on her part in helping a fugitive from law.

Congress questioned even the role of the Prime Minister as to whether her action had his “tacit” endorsement.

Contending that the Prime Minister’s role was under a “cloud of suspicion”, Congress posed 11 questions to him, including “what happens to transparency and non-corruption” promise made by him.

However, the government, the BJP as well as RSS, strongly “justified” Swaraj’s action and rejected resignation demands.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP chief Amit Shah asserted that she had done no wrong and only acted on “humanitarian” grounds.

The government support was expressed after Home Minister Rajnath Singh met the Prime Minister.