Chidambaram hits back at Sushma, says he would have instead helped Lalit Modi get Indian travel documents

New Delhi: In a series of tweets aimed at Sushma Swaraj, former finance minister P Chidambaram has made clear that Congress has no intention of giving any relief to the External Affairs Minister in the controversy over her alleged links with former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi.

While Sushma in Parliament justified her move of helping Modi on humanitarian grounds and questioned if Congress President Sonia Gandhi would not have helped an ailing woman, Chidambaram shot back at her saying that had he been in her place, he would have advised Lalit Modi to apply to Indian High Commission for temporary Indian travel documents.

"Would not have left #LalitModi's wife to die. Would have advised him to apply to Indian High Commission for a temp INDIAN travel document Who is speaking the truth? British High Commissioner Bevan or Keith Vaz MP or Minister Sushma Swaraj?," he tweeted.

Sushma in Lok Sabha had said the allegations against her were baseless and unfound. "Whatever I did (to help Modi get his travel visa) was done on humanitarian grounds as his wife has cancer and the hospital where she is undergoing treatment said that Modi's presence was important. What I did was help an Indian woman. I want to ask the Opposition, did I commit a crime? If I did, I am ready to face the consequences," Sushma had said.

However, just hours after an emotional speech by Sushma, sources in UK said that her intervention played a significant role in changing UK's attitude towards Lalit Modi.

According to sources, UK took Sushma Swaraj's intervention as a diplomatic signal for change in policy on Modi. The UK had earlier placed restrictions on Modi's travel in view of Enforcement Directorate's actions over his alleged role in money laundering.

Sources say that the minister's intervention was seen as official signal from India that Modi's travel restrictions could be lifted. The decision was also treated as an indication that the lifting of restriction would not spoil relations between India and the UK.

The sources add that Swaraj's request was not merely limited to medical purposes as claimed by her during her speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Although there is no written communication in the matter, a written communication is also not mandatory for what Sushma Swaraj did, the sources say.