JOIN USGadkari is a victim of media, says Gurumurthy
Having successfully navigated through the political storm to defend BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue S Gurumurthy on Wednesday shifted to Twitter to argue that Gadkari is a victim of media’s “competitive sensationalising” of his business dealings.
At the deserted party headquarters at Ashok Road, a defiant Ram Jethmalani continued firing salvos against Gadkari.
Expressing his disappointment over the BJP core group backing Gadkari, Jethmalani said the party was losing moral grounds to fight corruption.
“It is a betrayal of the people,” the Rajya Sabha member said in a written statement.
Despite gag orders restraining party leaders from speaking to journalists after Tuesday’s late night decision to back their president, Gurumurthy claimed that Gadkari was not even aware who were the co-investors in the company that had put money in one of his companies.
On the directions of the RSS, Gurumurthy had gone through documents on Gadkari companies and was convinced that the party chief could not be held guilty. He had shown his presentation to the core group meeting as well as senior leaders to convince that Gadkari is innocent. “I have verified that the Nagpur group has no political connection. No government contract. But they are worried about media exposure. Rightly,” Gadkari tweeted.
Gadkari-controlled sugar cooperative Purti Group had received Rs 164 crore loan from Global Safety Vision Pvt Ltd, which is believed to be associated with RB Infrastructure Developers Ltd which had got road construction contract when he was a road minister in Maharashtra a few years ago. “The media is in the grip of competitive sensationalising.
This is not investigative journalism. Shouting, screaming, (and) abusing is not (a) debate,” he tweeted. On dummy candidates being made directors in the company board, the chartered accountant tweeted: “He was driver decades ago. Now a supervisor. Media has made him a driver”. Hinting that Gadkari did not suggest these names, he said that “the main investors ask for nominees from management which suggests names”.
But, many in the party see that Gadkari’s fate still hangs in the balance since much would depend on the outcome of the investigation carried out by the Income Tax department, which has carried out searches on Gadkari’s companies to ascertain whether there was tax violation.
If the report indicts Gadkari, then RSS cannot hinge on the internal audit done by their nominee Gurmurthy and the party president will have to go. The pro-Gadkari group is also demanding that action be taken against leaders who sided with Jethmalani demanding the party president’s resignation. However, this would not happen now as it would create another controversy which Gadkari cannot afford to handle.
Shiv Sena quip
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesday, through an editorial in party paper “Saamna,” stated that while Nitin Gadkari is facing the worst crisis in his political career like Advani did during the “Jinnah remarks,” the controversy also indicates the extent of bad-blood existing between the BJP president and senior party Narendra Modi, reports DHNS from Mumbai.