Chidambaram charges 'baseless', aimed at hiding UPA failures: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP today hit back at former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and accused him of making "baseless" allegations against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to hide the "failures" of the UPA government to initiate action against former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

BJP said that during its regime, the Congress-led UPA had enough time to act against Modi and bring him back to India but the then government did not do so. The Congress is now trying to put the blame on BJP though it has "no moral right", it added.

"Congress during the UPA regime had enough time to act against Lalit Modi but, did not do so. It is now trying to put the blame on BJP. Congress is trying to hide its own failures in bringing Lalit Modi to book for the charges against him," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Alleging that the Congress was responsible for a large number of scams, Sharma said it has "no moral right" to question BJP and talk about corruption.

The BJP has strongly stood behind Swaraj in the issue, saying she had acted only on "humanitarian grounds" to help Modi get travel documents.

BJP chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have defended Swaraj and rejected all allegations against her.

At a press conference in Chennai earlier today, former Finance Minister Chidambaram demanded that the government should ensure that Lalit Modi returns to India to face the probe by the Enforcement Directorate on various charges, including money laundering.

The senior Congress leader also claimed that Swaraj's action in helping the tainted former IPL boss get travel documents from the UK was in violation of rules and a case of favouritism shown to someone she knew.