After the links between Hamid Ansari and a Pakistani journalist sparked a controversy, BJP released more evidence to intensify the claims.
Former Vice President Hamid Ansari found himself in the middle of the controversy recently due to alleged connections with a Pakistani journalist, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) launched a fresh series of attacks on the Congress party, sharing a rare, unseen photo of the VP.
Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza has claimed that he had visited India five times during the UPA rule and passed on sensitive information collected here to his country's spy agency ISI. Nusrat Mirza allegedly said that he had visited India on Hamid Ansari's invitations and also met him.
Meanwhile, Hamid Ansari had brushed off these claims, saying that he had never met or invited the journalist to the country, dismissing the charge as a "litany of falsehood". Earlier, the BJP had accused Ansari of inviting Mirza to India, who has allegedly spied for the ISI.
BJP had cited the claims made by Nusrat Mirza, saying that Hamid Ansari shared many "sensitive and highly classified" information with him. Now, the ruling party has come forward with proof that the two individuals are interconnected.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters on Friday, the party's national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia showed a picture of Hamid Ansari allegedly sharing a stage with Nusrat Mirza at a conference on terrorism here in 2009.
According to the photo shared by the Twitter handle BJP4India, Gaurav Bhatia can be seen holding up a photograph that shows Hamid Ansari and Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza sharing a stage together.
As per PTI reports, Bhatia said during the press conference that people holding constitutional posts should act responsibly and should have not shared the stage with Nusrat Mirza. Slamming the Congress party, Bhatia further said intelligence clearance is required for holding such programmes and inviting dignitaries from abroad.
Launching attacks on the opposition, Bhatia alleged that for a program of someone holding a constitutional post, protocol dictates that his office gathers information about those involved in the event. In such a situation, would it not be correct to believe that Congress wanted a person from Pakistan to enter India and hurt its integrity.
(With PTI inputs)
READ | 'Litany of falsehood': Former VP Hamid Ansari on allegations of inviting Pakistani journalist
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 "BJP releases unseen photo of ex-VP Hamid Ansari with Pakistani journalist, intensifies claims of connection")
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