Growing disquiet in Congress over shift in line of attack against CM Raje

The party, these leaders maintain, should focus on the original issue of Raje helping Lalit Modi in the UK and the alleged business links of her son, Dushyant Singh, with the former IPL chief. They say the attack on Raje should be focused — that a person occupying a constitutional post helped a person dodge Indian probe agencies.

These leaders do not want to wade into issues other than the Lalit Modi-Raje link. On Tuesday, for the second day running, Jairam Ramesh released documents to back his claim that Raje and her family had “forcibly and illegally occupied” the Dholpur city palace, a government property, and converted it into a luxury hotel.

“The real issue is the quid pro quo. And the source of the funds that Lalit Modi’s company invested in a firm owned by the chief minister and her family,” a senior leader from Rajasthan said.

Another Congress general secretary agreed: “I don’t agree with this (Dholpur twist). We should have focused on the original issue… such disputes are there in many royal families. But what to do. There are some gentlemen in our party.”

On Tuesday, Ramesh released the May 2007 decision of the Additional District Judge, Bharatpur in the ‘Dushyant Singh vs Hemant Singh’ civil suit. The decision, he said, was based on a compromise by the father and son and was only with regard to “movables” in the palace.

He also released, among others, a 1949 list of the private property of the erstwhile Raja of Dholpur. The list, dug out from the archives, said the city palace belonged to the state government but would remain in the possession and use of the Raja during his lifetime.

The Congress, meanwhile, finds itself isolated on the demand for the resignation of Sushma Swaraj. “We have not forgotten the foreign minister. Closure and disclosure in her case is yet to come,” Ramesh said on Tuesday, almost as an afterthought as he went hammer and tongs against Raje.

But Congress sources concede there has been little support from rest of the Opposition parties on its specific demand for Swaraj’s resignation. It has been in touch with many in the Opposition. Some like the SP, RJD and the JD(U) have been sympathetic to Swaraj, while many others like Trinamool Congress and NCP have chosen to remain silent.

Sources in the Congress said many Opposition leaders feel that Swaraj is perhaps the only minister in the Modi cabinet with whom they can engage. Besides she is seen by the Opposition as one of the potential challengers to Modi. Sources said JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav had a talk with Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, some days ago

The Congress, sources said, is aware of its isolation and has decided to focus more on Raje and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the entire controversy. Others in the Opposition, sources said, are also game for attacking the Prime Minister over his silence on corruption charges and irregularities. “They want to keep it general and focus the attack on the Prime Minister,” a senior Congress leader said.

For instance, the Pankaja Munde controversy is fodder for the NCP. “From rashtra to Maharashtra… there are many scandals. The Prime Minister must speak on these matters. That is the issue,” senior NCP leader D P Tripathi said.

Sources said the Opposition parties will consult each other before the Parliament session and may come up with a strategy to take on the government.