New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Thursday reportedly admitted to the top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership that she supported former IPL chief Lalit Modi's immigration application in the UK along with a condition that the same should not be revealed before the Indian authorities, sources told Zee Media.
As per sources, Raje admitted that she signed a statement submitted in the UK court in 2011, which said she backed any immigration plea of the former IPL commissioner.
On Wednesday, the Congress released a signed statement that was submitted in a UK court and in which Raje pledged to support any immigration application by Lalit Modi.
Meanwhile, the Congress continues to mount pressure on the BJP demanding Raje's resignation over the 'Lalitgate' row.
Mounting pressure on the BJP, the Congress today said that the ruling party has no other option but to sack her.
While addressing a press conference, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said his party will even go to the President if the BJP fails to act. He also threatened an unprecedented agitation in the entire state if Raje is not removed.
As per the documents released by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh yesterday, Raje - in the witness statement submitted in the UK court in 2011 - had backed the immigration plea of Lalit Modi contending she had no doubt that the frontal attack he was facing in India then was "politically motivated".
"Given my close understanding of, and involvement in Indian politics, I have absolutely no doubt that the broad, full frontal attack that Lalit is currently facing in India is politically motivated," she had said in her witness statement before the British authorities.
She insisted that the Congress party was "destroying" and "discrediting" Modi.
"In the course of doing so by virtue of my association with him, they hope to politically discredit me as well," she said in the witness statement given on August 18, 2011.
The Rajasthan Chief Minister said the information contained in the statement was "true, correct and accurate" to the best of her knowledge and belief.
The statement had a 'confidentiality notice', insisting that it is provided on the "strict understanding that its contents and the identity of its maker are treated confidentially and that it is used only for the purposes stated in it".
"I make this statement in support of any immigration application that Lalit Modi makes, but do on a strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authorities," Raje, who gave this undertaking as the then Opposition Leader of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, said.
In the statement, Raje said she was also aware that Modi, in the context of his role as IPL founder and chairman, had major run-ins with prominent Central government ministers.
Lalit Modi, who is facing probe by Enforcement Directorate, is in news following revelations that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj helped him get a travel document in London.
