Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party demanded Congress member of Parliament Govinda's resignation over his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar Thursday came to his defence saying the video footage appeared to be of pre-1992 vintage and "nobody has the right to tarnish anyone's image without getting complete information".
"I do not know Govinda personally, but the footage appeared to have been taken before the 1993 blasts, after which another don Chhota Rajan, who is shown in it, had parted ways with Dawood. In that case, there is nothing objectionable about it," Katiyar, a former MP and member of the BJP national executive, told PTI.
"The video clippings were apparently taken before Dawood was declared a global terrorist. There may be photographs of many political leaders also with the don taken at that time. That does not mean they all had links with him. People in politics, social work and arts earn their reputation after putting in years of hard work. Nobody has a right to tarnish it without getting full information," he said.
The former Uttar Pradesh BJP chief and a key accused in the Ayodhya demolition case, however, said the intelligence agencies and Mumbai police should confirm when the dispute between Chhota Rajan and Dawood began.