New Delhi

BJP today kept up its attack on Congress over David Headley’s deposition that Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in 2004, was an LeT terrorist, accusing it of “whitewashing” facts due to its “congenital dislike” for Narendra Modi because it foresaw him as a “political threat”.

Seeking an apology from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, then Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and other party leaders lined up to “weave a fictional tale” to target Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister, BJP also virtually defended the police personnel arrested for killing Ishrat in an alleged fake encounter in 2004, saying the then UPA government made sure they were put behind bars.

“A battery of Congress leaders were lined up who went on giving statements there are evidences (against BJP leaders), there are conversations happening, there are people who said the man with white beard and black beard. It was done because Congress has a congenital dislike for Modi.

“He much to their dislike was the state’s chief minister.

Who much to their dislike ran the state so successfully that they foresaw a potential political threat to themselves and so they targeted him… They wove theories like white beard, black beard,” Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a party briefing.

References to ‘white beard’ and ‘black beard’ were made in leaked telephonic conversations of police personnel and others related to the case and BJP’s rivals had then alleged that they meant Modi and then state home minister Amit Shah, now party chief. BJP had called it a conspiracy by the UPA government to target them.

Attacking Congress, she said when its ploy did not work, then a senior Intelligence Bureau official was “targeted” and the Special Director-rank officer was subjected to questioning by a DSP-rank CBI official.

“To what extent the dislike of Congress for individuals could guide its policy and governance and expose the national security. It went to the court with a fictional tale. It almost hounded intelligence and police officials,” Sitharaman said.

Asked if the party was “justifying” Ishrat’s killing in an alleged fake encounter, she said the court will take a decision on it as the matter iss there and maintained that the UPA picked on the case as it served its “vote bank” politics.

Sitharaman said sharing of intelligence by IB with state police has long been a standard practice and Gujarat Police acted on such inputs but the then UPA government went on to expose the “covert operation” and compromised national security.

Due to Congress’ “political conspiracy” against Modi and Shah, the Home Ministry changed its affidavit after earlier telling a court that Ishrat was an LeT operative. The change came after a new Home Minister took over, the Union minister said, making a reference to Sushil Kumar Shinde who had replaced P Chidambaram at the North Block.

Asked about the “reliability” of Headley, a Pakistani- American terrorist, she asserted that his deposition has provided “additional corroboration” to what was always claimed by her party.