New Delhi, June 24: A document carrying the purported signature of Vasundhara Raje and gushing about Lalit Modi has blown up in the face of the Narendra Modi establishment which cited technicalities that appeared to be drowning in a wave of moral outrage sweeping television studios as well as the political landscape.

The signed document, which endorsed Lalit's application to stay on in the UK at a time he was wanted in India, was made public by Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on the news channel around 6pm. It demolished the BJP's argument that the papers in the public domain till now did not have Vasundhara's signature.

BJP leaders claimed tonight that the party and the government would dig in their heels to fight the battle politically although a sense of unease appeared to be spreading at the lower levels. Insisting that no illegality had been committed, a senior leader said: "If a document is legal, it is also moral."

The leader seemed unfazed at the prospect of facing a charged Opposition in the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on July 21. "We will reply," he said.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was contemplating some action, the source said: "No. That's it."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the controversy that has been raging for days now has become one of the hottest talking points in town. All officials would disclose today was that the Prime Minister chaired an interaction through "PRAGATI", which his critics may find somewhat inopportune as it stands for "Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation".

The fresh - and highly inflammable - fuel was shovelled into the Lalit blaze on a day another controversy snapped out of a stupor and leaped at another Union minister. A Delhi court took cognisance of a complaint that alleged discrepancies in declarations about the educational qualifications of human resource development minister Smriti Irani.

However, other than technicalities and brave words, the BJP had not come up with a cogent defence till late tonight on the Lalit scandal.

Only a forensic analysis can establish the authenticity of the signature above Vasundhara's name in the document in support of Lalit. Significantly, the BJP did not challenge the authenticity of the signature but focused on questioning the contents and context.

Rejecting a blizzard of demands for Vasundhara to quit as Rajasthan chief minister, state BJP president Ashok Parnami said in Jaipur: "We cannot say anything on that because contents for which the signatures have been made are not clear."

The claim of lack of clarity contradicted the central leadership's assertion that no illegality could be spotted in the document.

Shorn of the legal hair-splitting, the content has the potential to embarrass the BJP on one of its core issues: patriotism.

The witness statement attributed to Vasundhara and meant for Britain, which once colonised India, has several cringe-inducing paragraphs about the internal political situation, which, even though no state secret, go against the convention of not washing domestic dirty linen in front of foreign powers.

At one point, the document says: "A significant part of the Congress Party's election campaign (in 2008) was devoted to the propagation of a smear campaign against me and Lalit...."

The document begins with the by-now-infamous line: "I make this statement in support of any immigration application that Lalit Modi makes, but do so on the strict condition that my assistance will not become known to the Indian authorities."

When some pages of the witness statement were made public earlier, they were part of a legal firm's affidavit and did not carry Vasundhara's signature - something the BJP had seized upon as the party tried to brazen it out.

Vasundhara herself had then said: "I don't know what document you are talking about."

Today, a senior BJP leader sounded equally blasé. "What is illegal about this document? She has only identified herself as a witness."

The BJP is also expected to contend that the Congress's decision to stay focused on the controversy proved that it was "politically motivated". The party is also hoping that some Congress names would also get ensnared. "By the time Parliament meets, more names will roll out. This is like the hawala scam, it will burn every party," a BJP leader said.

However, others appeared less certain. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra responded tentatively, saying: "The authenticity of the document has to be established."

A middle-rung official, who used to enjoy Modi's confidence earlier, was blunt: "The party has crossed the limits of shamelessness."

The RSS has apparently told the BJP to take a decision on its own, keeping the "overall credibility" of the party and the government in mind. A source said: "What is the RSS thinking? I know that it is seeking opinion from the ground. If the leaders deduce that it is harming the government and the party's image, the BJP may be forced to think again."

Around 3pm, soon after a cabinet meeting, home minister Rajnath Singh had said: "There will be no resignations. We are the NDA, not the UPA."

Telecom and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had added: "Our ministers don't do what UPA ministers used to do."

That picture appeared to have changed by 6pm when Goswami flashed the document on live television.