BJP Leaders Come Out In Gadkari's Defence, Congress Demands Answers

New Delhi: The political row over alleged wrongdoings in business dealings by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari continued Wednesday with senior party leaders L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj backing his stand in asking for a probe and the Congress retorting that it was not enough.

The Congress sought that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief answer the charges against him and claimed the allegations were the result of the BJP's internal fights.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, meanwhile, said in Nagpur that the allegations against Gadkari were a "matter of the party".

In a statement, Advani termed Gadkari's asking for a probe by the department of company affairs as a "fair and proper response" and also sought to point out that the allegations against the BJP chief were "about standards of business and not misuse of power or corruption".

Sushma Swaraj said it was "unjust" and "unfair" to accept allegations against Gadkari without a probe.

She also said that the BJP members "trust" Gadkari and "stand firmly behind him".

On the other hand, the Congress went on the offensive.

"It is a serious matter. The BJP should clarify as another former president, Bangaru Laxman, had also faced corruption charges," said Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi, while his colleague Sandeep Dikshit said: "Mere asking for a probe is not enough."

Another spokesman Manish Tewari said the episode reflected the party's rifts.

"The charges are the result of BJP's internal fight," he said.

Advani hoped the government inquiry, announced Tuesday by Corporate Affairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily, would be "fair" and uncoloured by its "political hostility" to the BJP.

He said the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) "is trying to work a strategy to paint the entire political class with the same brush to minimise and escape its unpardonable sins".

Advani urged the BJP to "be different and should not claim immunity on either scale or nature of the allegations".