New Delhi:Senior CPI(M) leader and party leader in the Rajya sabha Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday denied having signed any letter seeking denial of US visa for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.He said that it could be a "cut and paste" job."I deny having signed any such letter. It is neither in my character nor in the principles of my party - the CPI(M) - to petition any sovereign country on matters that fall strictly within the sovereign domain of that country," he said in a statement in New Delhi. With this denial the whole issue has become contyraversial. "His statement came amid reports that he was among 65 Members of Parliament who had written letters to President Barack Obama, urging the US Administration to maintain the current policy of denying visa to Modi.

Observing that "much of this controversy is taking place in cyberspace," he said, "The one circulating in cyberspace, now many months after it was allegedly signed, is typed on the letterhead of a Member of Parliament which carries the insignia of our national symbol, the Ashok Chakra."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.