CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday denied that he signed a petition to U.S. President Barack Obama, urging denial of visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He said it appeared a “cut and paste” job.
In a statement here, a day after it was reported that 64 MPs, across the States, had written to Mr. Obama, the CPI(M) leader in the Rajya Sabha said: “It is neither in my character nor in the principles of my party to petition any sovereign country on matters that fall strictly within the sovereign domain of that country. It is this very principle that leads us to strongly oppose and denounce any external interference in India’s internal affairs undermining its sovereignty.”
Mr. Yechury said much of this controversy over a visa for Mr. Mody was taking place in cyberspace. The one circulating in cyberspace now, several months after the petition was allegedly signed, was typed on the letterhead of an MP carrying the insignia of the national symbol, Ashoka Chakra. “The heading under which some signatures are appended says, ‘Names and Signatures of Indian MPs’. Which other country’s MPs would sign on the letterhead of the Indian Parliament? This itself suggests some efforts at cut and paste,” Mr. Yechury pointed out.
