New Delhi: Vasundhara Raje's explanation of her son's business dealings with disgraced cricket mogul Lalit Modi has reportedly been found plausible by her party, the BJP, which is confronting a raucous demand from the opposition for her resignation as Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the controversial 13-crore deal between Mr Modi and Ms Raje's son, 41-year-old MP Dushyant Singh, is being thoroughly examined and "the government will play by the rule book."
Sources say that while the government would maintain that view officially, privately documents pertaining to the business dealings have been scrutinized and evaluated as "politically defensible".
Sources who have examined the documents argue that a loan of nearly three crores from Mr Modi to Mr Singh, offered in 2007, was repaid via cheque in 2009 and hence is a "non-issue".
In 2007 and 2008, Mr Modi bought ten rupee shares in Mr Singh's firm at a whopping Rs 96,000 each. BJP sources say the massive premium was paid for the real estate value of the Raje's family's assets, including its ancestral palace, which is worth more than Rs 300 crore.
But Mr Singh's tax returns filed in 2013 show the family palace not as an asset of his firm, but in the name of a dependent. And the value of the heritage mansion is declared as 16 crores.
Asked to justify whether "slush funds" of a Mauritius-based company of Mr Modi had financed Mr Singh's business, BJP sources said that the funds of Mr Modi's firms are being probed and if money-laundering is proven, it's the cricket entrepreneur who will be liable.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the controversial 13-crore deal between Mr Modi and Ms Raje's son, 41-year-old MP Dushyant Singh, is being thoroughly examined and "the government will play by the rule book."
Sources say that while the government would maintain that view officially, privately documents pertaining to the business dealings have been scrutinized and evaluated as "politically defensible".
In 2007 and 2008, Mr Modi bought ten rupee shares in Mr Singh's firm at a whopping Rs 96,000 each. BJP sources say the massive premium was paid for the real estate value of the Raje's family's assets, including its ancestral palace, which is worth more than Rs 300 crore.
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Asked to justify whether "slush funds" of a Mauritius-based company of Mr Modi had financed Mr Singh's business, BJP sources said that the funds of Mr Modi's firms are being probed and if money-laundering is proven, it's the cricket entrepreneur who will be liable.
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