The Conservative Party chairman has dismissed Nigel Farage's claims against a UKIP defector as "absolute desperate stuff".
Amjad Bashir announced on Saturday he had defected to the Conservative Party, with David Cameron saying he was "absolutely delighted" with the decision
But Mr Farage told Sky News the "Establishment" had been threatened by UKIP's success and that he was expecting "102 days of endless negativity" ahead of the General Election.
He has claimed UKIP's MEPs had been "begging" him to get rid of Mr Bashir because of a number of serious irregularities and said the party was was about to suspend him.
Speaking on the BBC Andrew Marr Show, he said he was "surprised" the Tories had accepted the MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber given UKIP were about to suspend him because of the allegations of a "grave nature".
The UKIP leader claimed there were questions over money in Brussels, the apparent employment of illegal immigrants at his restaurant, alleged interference with candidate selection process and apparent links to political extremists from Pakistan.
However, Grant Shapps told Sky's Dermot Murnaghan the Conservatives had done "due diligence" on Mr Bashir's background and had been in talks with him for some time.
And he dismissed the comments made by Mr Farage as "absolute desperate stuff from UKIP".
It comes as one of Mr Farage's most senior aides sparked controversy by claiming Britain has "hundreds of thousands of bigots" and saying UKIP was proud to stand up for them.
Matthew Richardson, the party's secretary, has dismissed his comments as "lighthearted harmless banter in the pub".
Mr Farage told Andrew Marr it was an attempt by the political establishment and their "friends in the media" to damage UKIP and echoed Mr Richardson's comments that it had been just pub talk.
As he attempted to limit the damage from the weekend's stories, Mr Farage promised to fund the NHS with the money Britain would save from leaving the European Union, pledging £3bn extra a year - more than Labour's pledge.
Mr Bashir, who was formerly UKIP's small business spokesman, was accused of hypocrisy last May after it emerged that seven people were arrested for immigration offences in a raid on his restaurant.
At the time, the party leader had refused to "prejudge" the case, as Mr Bashir's family had launched an appeal.
In addition, Mr Bashir reportedly held a "continued affiliation" with Mujeeb Bhutto - who resigned from the party in 2014 after it emerged he had been jailed for leading a gang of kidnappers in Pakistan.
Explaining his reasons for quitting the party, Mr Bashir told The Sunday Telegraph that UKIP had become a "party of ruthless self-interest" and was "pretty amateur".
He added: "The issues raised in my notice of suspension are historic and well known to the party. Indeed, on one of them, Nigel Farage has publicly defended me over it."
The defection is a boost for the Prime Minister, who saw two of his own MPs defect to UKIP last year and comes as a ICM Wisdom Index poll showed a significant drop off in UKIP support in the last month and a Tory boost.
He said: "I'm absolutely delighted that Amjad has decided to leave UKIP and join the Conservative Party."
Mr Farage claimed UKIP could win around three or four seats in May and said the party was not just taking seats from the Tories.
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