External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at a press conference in New Delhi (Press Trust of India photo)
Claiming that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had been targeted under a "political game" to oust her from the BJP, ally Shiv Sena today said it was imperative for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in and order an investigation to know who was so keen on "maligning" her "clean" reputation.
The Shiv Sena, which has come out in support of the minister in the row over helping Lalit Modi, the controversial former chief of the Indian Premier League, obtain British travel papers, said the Congress was "lifeless" and one "who is trying to give flight to its wings".
"The Congress party is behaving as if Swaraj has helped get bail to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim or Kasab. This controversy is being fuelled by using a section of the media. It is vital for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an investigation on who is so keen on maligning her clean reputation of 35-40 years," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
"Covering Swaraj in a mist of controversy and questions seems to be a huge political game being played to oust her from the BJP and from national politics," the Sena alleged.
It also said that PM Modi, too, may get engulfed in such controversies in the future and that some of his cabinet ministers are being tactfully harassed.
The editorial added that similar allegations had been levelled against Home Minister Rajnath Singh's son in the recent past and also against Nitin Gadkari, when he took over as the President of the BJP.
"An Indian has been helped on humanitarian grounds. Why so much fuss over it? The Congress has become lifeless now and thus, its flutter also does not mean much. But the question is who is trying to give flight to these fluttering wings," the Sena said.
"If somebody is attacking the External Affairs Ministry to weaken it and thereby, trying to demoralise the Modi government, the person is ultimately causing harm to the country. This is a very big political game that needs to be ended by PM Modi," the party added.