A day after the BJP claimed that Congress and its president Sonia Gandhi were the “driving force” behind Teesta Setalvad’s campaign against then chief minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots, the grand old party condemned the allegations.
Calling the remarks “baseless”, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the charge by BJP spokespersons that Teesta Setalvad acted at the behest of Congress President Sonia Gandhi is wholly bogus and baseless.
“The Congress party condemns these allegations most forcefully. These allegations are in direct contempt of the Supreme Court’s judgment,” he tweeted.
The BJP launched a scathing attack on Setalvad after she was detained by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Mumbai and taken to Ahmedabad in connection with an FIR registered against her at the Ahmedabad city crime branch.
At a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra noted that the apex court had named Setalvad while blasting those responsible for keeping the “pot boiling” for their ulterior designs on the riots.
The court had said that all those involved in the abuse of process need to be in the dock, he said.
Setalvad and her NGOs were allegedly behind producing some rather gruesome details, which later turned out to be incorrect, about what happened to some victims of the riots, claimed Patra.
He further said that Setalvad has also been accused of misuse and misappropriation of the money collected for riot victims and using them for personal pleasure and comfort.
The BJP spokesperson said the Congress-led UPA government, especially its education ministry, had given Rs 1.4 crore to an NGO run by Setalvad, and this money was used to run a campaign against Modi and also to “defame” India.
Setalvad was also a member of the National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, he noted.
In its order on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to then Gujarat chief minister Modi and others in the 2002 post-Godhra riots cases.
