New Delhi:
Hours after Sheila Dikshit's comments on "Sahara Diaries" landed the Congress party in a spot and blunted Rahul Gandhi's corruption charges on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former Delhi Chief Minister toed the party line saying the onus is on PM to "come out clean on charges".
"I have said what I had to. The ball is in the court of the @PMOIndia & others now. Will he respond and come out clean? #SaharaBirlaDiaries (sic)," Ms Dikshit tweeted on Monday night.
Earlier on Monday, Ms Dikshit, who is the Congress party's chief ministerial candidate for the Uttar Pradesh elections, rubbished the Sahara documents after her name figured in the list that the Congress put out in a tweet two days back as proof of its allegations against PM Modi.
"It is all hearsay. There is no iota of truth in the allegations. I totally reject these allegations," said the 78-year-old.
Echoing the BJP's stand on the issue, Ms Dikshit said the Supreme Court had already made observations on them.
"The list has so many names. Then why are you focusing on Sheila Dikshit? I don't even remember anything like this. There are names of other chief ministers. Why don't you talk about them? Why only Sheila Dikshit?" she said.
Taking a dig at the Congress, BJP National Secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said, "Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and their spokespersons are making stupid mistakes time and again."
He added caustically that Mr Gandhi "should have gained wisdom by now, he is no more a child."
Denying that Ms Dikshit's comments are against the party line, Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said: "We want a probe into Sahara-Birla diaries. Sheila Dikshit not saying anything contradictory. Let there be an inquiry."
Parties like the Janata Dal-United, Lalu Yadav's RJD and Sharad Pawar's NCP have demanded that everyone mentioned in the diaries be investigated.
Last week, Rahul Gandhi alleged that documents seized by tax officials during raids proved that PM Modi, as Gujarat Chief Minister, had taken money from the Sahara and Birla groups.
(with inputs from PTI)