File photo of Vasundhara Raje and cricket tycoon Lalit Modi
Two days before Parliament's monsoon session begins, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje -- who is facing controversy over her links with tainted cricket tycoon Lalit Modi -- met BJP president Amit Shah during a key strategy session in Delhi today.
The meeting was also attended by senior leaders and ministers including Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani and Nirmala Seetharaman, sources told NDTV.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is battling charges of involvement of his key leaders in the Vyapam scam, is also waiting to meet Mr Shah, sources said.
The Parliament session beginning Tuesday, is expected to be stormy as the Opposition, led by the Congress, appeared to have closed ranks to corner the government over a range of issues -- including the Vyapam scam and the Lalit Modi controversy.
At stake are several crucial legislations -- including the Goods and Services Tax bill and the land bill - which have to be passed by the Upper House, Rajya Sabha, where the ruling NDA lacks majority.
In the afternoon, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Hope the Prime Minister starts Parliament by announcing the resignation of the scam accused... the minimum we want is the resignation of Rajasthan CM, Madhya Pradesh CM, unions minister and MPs involved and ministers from Maharashtra."
The party has warned that till all three are removed, it would not allow Parliament to function.
The BJP has backed Ms Raje, who had supported Mr Modi's immigration appeal to UK, saying she did not testify on his behalf in court. The party has also supported Ms Swaraj, who had helped Mr Modi travel to Portugal.
Several non-Congress parties, however, have informally agreed not to not to target Ms Swaraj, saying she was a "decent" and "fair" person, sources have told NDTV. The parties include the Trinamool Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Janata Dal United and the Samajwadi Party.