Yechury denies signing letter against Modi's U.S. visa

After 65 Members of Parliament wrote to President Barack Obama asking the U.S. administration to maintain the ban on Narendra Modi's visa, one of the alleged signatories, Communist Party India (Marxist) senior leader Sitaram Yechury has denied that he signed any such letter saying that he doubted the authenticity of the document.

According to reports, one letter was signed by 25 Rajya Sabha members and the other by 40 Lok Sabha members, which were written on 26 November and 5 December 2012 respectively and re-faxed to the White House on Sunday.

Yechury rejected the claim that he had signed the letter, terming it as a 'copy and paste' job.

"The heading under which some signatures are appended says, 'Names and Signatures of Indian MPs'. Strange. Which other country's MPs would sign on the letterhead of the Indian Parliament? This, itself, suggests some efforts at cut and paste," Yechury said.

Yechury also said that the authenticity of the letter is in question questioning why the letter was being released now when they were allegedly signed in late 2012.

"I deny having signed any such letter. It is neither in my character nor in the principles of my party - the CPM - to petition any sovereign country on matters that fall strictly within the sovereign domain of that country. If it was released earlier and re-released now, then one can understand. But why is it being released now for the first time?" the CPI(M) leader said today.

Meanwhile, the letters were provided by the Indian American Muslim Council(IAMC) as Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh reached Washington to meet US lawmakers, think tanks and government officials. Singh is also expected to urge the American administration to lift the ban on Modi's visa to the country.