Lalit Modi drags Priyanka, Vadra

As the NDA government battled charges of impropriety, former IPL boss Lalit Modi on Friday claimed that he had met Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra in London last year.

In a series of tweets, Lalit said he had “run into Robert and Priyanka separately” at a restaurant in London. 

This prompted Congress leaders to come out with a quick denial and argue that Lalit was making these “juvenile” claims as a “diversionary tactic” to rescue to already singed NDA government.

 By Friday evening, even Priyanka Gandhi’s office issued a terse denial. “No Priyanka-Lalit Modi meeting took place in London,” a statement issued by her office said.

Lalit also claimed he “sat, ate and spoke” with former union minister Kapil Sibal “a few weeks ago” at a wedding in Istanbul.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje are battling opposition charges of helping out Lalit Modi who is evading money-laundering case in India by staying in London.

“Happy to meet the Gandhi family in London. I had run into Robert and Priyanka separately in a restaurant. They were with Timmy Sarna. He has my number. They can call me,” Lalit tweeted on Friday. Sarna is reportedly associated with DLF Brands.

Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Randeep Singh Surjewala defended the Gandhi family which is currently abroad in connection with party president Sonia Gandhi’s medical treatment of an undisclosed ailment.

“He (Lalit) says he ran into Robert and Priyanka at a London restaurant. But looking at each other at a restaurant is not a moral impropriety or a crime,” Surjewala, the in-charge of the AICC Communication Department, told reporters here.

Congress denies

“I can say with full responsibility that neither Priyanka Gandhi nor Robert Vadra ever interacted with Lalit Modi socially,” he said.

But in another tweet, Lalit said the “meeting” had taken place last year. “If I remember correctly it was last year and the year before. Doubt either reported it to anyone. They were in power then,” he said.

BJP seized the opportunity to hit back at the Congress. “We want to ask questions as to why the Gandhi family was constantly in touch with 

Lalit Modi. As to why yesterday also they were meeting Lalit Modi. It is thus obvious that none other than Sonia Gandhi can bring this to forefront,” said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.

However, Digvijay Singh dismissed the claims saying those who had helped Lalit Modi on paper were now using name of Priyanka and Vadra as their defence.