Union Minister Nitin Gadkari with Rajasthan Chief Minister during their meeting on Monday.
Just days after vigorously defending his colleague Vasundhara Raje, Nitin Gadkari is being far more cautious about her links to tainted cricket tycoon Lalit Modi.
"Mr Gadkari wasn't invited to dinner by Lalit Modi during a visit to London in 2011," said his office today, adding, "we cannot speak for Vasundhara Raje."
Last night, the opposition Congress released an indicting document signed by Mrs Raje in 2011 that offers strong support for Mr Modi's immigration appeal in the UK. The document, which demands that her identity be protected, describes India's expansive investigation against Mr Modi for financial crimes as
"a full frontal attack", one that is "politically motivated".
When Mr Modi first outed the document in a TV interview earlier this month, Ms Raje, the Rajasthan Chief Minister, said she was unaware of it. Earlier this week, Mr Gadkari, who has served in the past as BJP president, met with Ms Raje and declared her innocent of "moral, legal or ethical wrong".
Four weeks before Ms Raje signed the document, Mr Gadkari and she were part of a BJP delegation that met supporters in London. The group attended a cricket match at Lord's; the BJP's Vijay Jolly, who was present, said that there is no truth to reports that the tickets were organised by Mr Modi, who has avoided returning home to face criminal cases of corruption.
"Nitin Gadkari was party president and we were all over the media. So the tickets were arranged as part of good will during the trip," said Mr Jolly to NDTV.
The proximity of the BJP's top leaders to Mr Modi has landed the government in its first big scandal since it came to power. It was revealed earlier this month that last August, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, whose husband and daughter have served as Mr Modi's lawyers, intervened with UK officials to help the entrepreneur get urgent travel documents. Ms Swaraj has said Mr Modi needed to accompany his wife to Portugal for medical treatment.