BJP today came down heavily on Congress following the latest revelation that first affidavit describing Ishrat Jahan as an LeT operative was signed by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram about which he had been ambivalent. <br/><br/>It alleged that the entire Congress party was involved in the matter to eliminate its political rival and the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, senior party leader Nirmala Sitharaman said the matter couldn't be confined only to Mr. Chidambaram as Congress President Sonia Gandhi was actively involved in it.<br/><br/> She said Mr. Chidambaram was only a tool to help the Congress and reference of Ishrat Jahan was changed in the second affidavit in 2009 on the pretext of having no conclusive evidence that she was a terrorist. She said the former Home Minister should answer whether his signature on the affidavit is true or not. <br/><br/>Ms. Sitharaman said Congress used the 2004 encounter case against Mr. Modi as it was not able to fight against BJP politically. The BJP leader also alleged that the opposition party had weakened the entire framework of intelligence establishment by ignoring their inputs about Ishrat Jahan.<br/><br/> Pivate TV channel has claimed that the affidavit describing Ishrat Jahan as a LeT operative was signed by P Chidambaram. Recently, former Home Secretary G K Pillai and some other officials had also claimed that the second affidavit in 2009 was changed under political pressure.<br/><br/>Amid fresh claims on the role of former Home Minister P Chidambaram in the Ishrat Jahan case, Congress today alleged that BJP is attempting to dilute the fake encounter issue. Party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters in New Delhi that the issue is whether it was a fake or genuine encounter. He said, the court has held that it was a fake encounter.

BJP today came down heavily on Congress following the latest revelation that first affidavit describing Ishrat Jahan as an LeT operative was signed by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram about which he had been ambivalent. <br/><br/>It alleged that the entire Congress party was involved in the matter to eliminate its political rival and the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, senior party leader Nirmala Sitharaman said the matter couldn't be confined only to Mr. Chidambaram as Congress President Sonia Gandhi was actively involved in it.<br/><br/> She said Mr. Chidambaram was only a tool to help the Congress and reference of Ishrat Jahan was changed in the second affidavit in 2009 on the pretext of having no conclusive evidence that she was a terrorist. She said the former Home Minister should answer whether his signature on the affidavit is true or not. <br/><br/>Ms. Sitharaman said Congress used the 2004 encounter case against Mr. Modi as it was not able to fight against BJP politically. The BJP leader also alleged that the opposition party had weakened the entire framework of intelligence establishment by ignoring their inputs about Ishrat Jahan.<br/><br/> Pivate TV channel has claimed that the affidavit describing Ishrat Jahan as a LeT operative was signed by P Chidambaram. Recently, former Home Secretary G K Pillai and some other officials had also claimed that the second affidavit in 2009 was changed under political pressure.