JOIN US'I am no saffron leader's puppet'
Gadkari, the youngest ever BJP president, asserted that he was taking his own decisions — though often after consulting senior party and RSS leaders.
Gadkari, while speaking to a private TV channel, also denied he was an RSS appointee and that he was imposed on the party.
“All leaders are with me 100 per cent. They are supporting me from the core of their heart and guiding me very properly,” Gadkari said when asked if he has the full support of senior leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar.
Gadkari denied that these senior leaders were turning him into a puppet. “The people who know me know that I will never become a puppet,” he said.
The BJP leader from Maharashtra also said, “ RSS leaders never direct me, never give me any instruction. And as BJP president, I am taking my own decisions.”
He insisted that L K Advani and Rajnath Singh were the first to suggest that he should become the BJP president. He denied that RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat had imposed him on the BJP.
“They (RSS) never interfere in our day-to-day activities, or in the selection of candidates and politics,” Gadkari said.
On a question about the BJP being identified with Kandhamal riots in Orissa, Ram Sene in Karnataka and Varun Gandhi’s alleged communal speech, Gadkari said, “We are a democratic party. We have many leaders in the party having different views.”
He argued that these did not represent the views of the party. “As far as Ram Sene is concerned, it is not directly or indirectly related to the BJP.
PTI