Raje leaves Delhi without meeting BJP top brass

Embattled Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday attended a NITI Aayog deliberation in the nation’s capital but left without meeting either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah.

Raje, who has been facing mounting opposition pressure to quit in connection with the ‘Lalitgate’, arrived around 9:30 am and left the city after spending close to four hours.

Party sources were tight-lipped on whether the Rajasthan CM had sought any appointment to meet either the PM or the party president.

On Friday night, after a meeting between Modi and Shah, party sources indicated that the top leadership of the party had accepted Raje’s defence in the controversy.

On Friday, Rajasthan BJP refuted all the allegations being levelled at her, saying that the document which she signed in support of Modi’s immigration application to the UK government was never produced in court as she had backed out of it later.

The state unit of the party also claimed that Modi’s investment in the chain of hotels owned by her son was legal and had been disclosed to authorities.

Congress has been piling up pressure on BJP to sack Raje, accusing her of quid pro quo in helping the former IPL boss.

Raje has maintained silence over the raging row even though her office has termed the allegations “untrue”, claiming that they were aimed at harming her politically. BJP for its part has said it “fully supports” her. The party has called her its tallest and most popular leader in the state, where she has led the party to its biggest assembly and Lok Sabha wins.

Raje was scheduled to visit London from June 27 to July 2 but cancelled the trip early this week in view of the NITI Aayog meet.