Vinod Pandit, who is a close aide to the Gujarat chief minister, denied his office was a cover for any wrongdoing.

“The allegations by the opposition are absolutely baseless,” Mr. Pandit assured The Hindu in an email. He alleged that his office was merely monitoring Mr. Patel’s campaign.

“My office is not a political outfit. We are monitoring any particular person on behalf of our constituency,” Mr. Pandit said. “We are not a political party. Our objective in monitoring the campaign is to provide the best possible information to the party workers.”

Mr. Patel on July 9 denied all allegations as “slander”, but said he is “no saint”. In his press conference, he had said “anybody who wants to come and attack anybody will attack”.

The BJP’s campaign manager in Gujarat, G.K. Narayan, said the allegations, in a bid to “disrupt and tarnish the BJP”, were “fake”. “The entire campaign of the BJP is focused on issues of development, economy and people’s livelihood,” he told The Hindu.

First Published: Jul 04, 2014 08:28 IST Last Updated: Jul 05, 2014 22:07 IST