File Photo: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
Senior BJP leaders today jumped to beleaguered Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's defence with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying nobody is "tainted" and the party questioning authenticity of documents, showing her to have backed Lalit Modi's application for immigration to the UK.
"There is nobody who is tainted please," Mr Jaitley told reporters at the Delhi airport after his return from the US.
Another senior minister, M Venkaiah Naidu, said the Narendra Modi Government was working in the "most honest and transparent" manner blamed some "unhappy people" for the outcry over Ms Raje's help to the former IPL boss.
"As far as party is concerned everything is happening positively," he said as reporters sought to know BJP leadership's stand on the raging row.
Their defence of the formidable Rajasthan leader, who has led party to its biggest Assembly as well Lok Sabha win, came after she dismissed media reports against her as "untrue" and aimed at "harming her politically".
Faced with a relentless opposition attack, BJP fought back, claiming that the details of the matter involving Ms Raje's help to tainted former IPL boss Lalit Modi were yet not clear and nor was the authenticity of the documents carrying her purported signature.
"What is the impropriety in the case of Ms Raje? These are only some documents. Their authenticity is yet to be proved. Did she testify before any court and before a judge? Has the UK government said anything?" party spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
He also played up the family relations between Ms Raje and the former IPL Commissioner to suggest that she might have helped him as a long time friend.
"Even if we presume the documents to be true, we know that they had family relations".
Asserting that there is no allegation of corruption against the Centre, Naidu said "Some people are unhappy because after this Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) came to power they are not allowed to enjoy what they used to earlier".
BJP Secretary Shrikant Sharma hit out at Congress for levelling "baseless allegations" against Ms Raje and claimed the opposition party was acting out of "frustration".
Ms Raje's office said the reports being broadcast by some channels were "far away from the truth."
"Some channels are broadcasting reports which are far away from the truth... Please do not run reports based on untruth and unsubstantiated information aimed at harming the chief minister politically and maligning her image," her media adviser said in a statement.
The Congress and the AAP intensified their demand for the resignation of Ms Raje as Chief Minister by holding protests in the national capital.