Narendra Modi and his close aide Amit Shah, who is accused of illegally spying on a woman
The National Commission for Women today said the allegations that a young woman was stalked in Narendra Modi's Gujarat must be investigated, even though the woman's father has claimed that she was aware that she was being spied upon by senior Gujarat police officers.
In his letter to the Commission, the father has urged against an investigation and said "whatever help was rendered" was based on his request, but he never once mentions why he asked for surveillance.
"I made a request to the Chief Minister to take steps in my daughter's safety," he wrote, not specifying what sort of assistance he sought. (
Read the letter)
The women's panel disagrees with him. "This is not a case of providing security to the girl. It should be probed thoroughly," said the panel's Shamina Shafiq.
The BJP says the father's letter should end the controversy. "After the letter, this discourse should end. If the Congress wants to indulge in politics, then let me warn them - if we want to raise issues, there are many personal issues," said BJP's Prakash Javadekar.
The Congress has alleged that the illegal spying in 2009 was ordered by Mr Modi, who is running for Prime Minister.
Last week, two news websites, cobrapost.com and Gulail, said that the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI has audio tapes that allegedly reveal then Home Minister Amit Shah instructing police officers to tail the woman at all times, as insisted upon by "saheb" or boss.
The Congress alleges that the "saheb" reference is to Mr Modi.
The BJP has said that the young woman, an architect, was being stalked by a bureaucrat named Pradeep Sharma, which provoked her family to seek Mr Modi's intervention.
Mr Sharma, however, denies those charges and says he was suspended by the Gujarat government and jailed on fake corruption charges because he was aware of the woman's relationship with a top Gujarat politician. (
Read)