The BJP on Monday expressed its ire over party leader Mahesh Jethmalani going to the media with his resignation from the national executive and hitting out at party president Nitin Gadkari, saying such an act damages the party and should have been avoided.
Mr. Jethmalani, who technically continues to be a member of the BJP as he has only resigned from the party National Executive, reportedly wrote in his letter to Mr. Gadkari that it is “morally and intellectually inappropriate to serve BJP as long as you are president”.
The letter was leaked to the media before it reached Mr. Gadkari and other senior leaders.
Reacting to the issue, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, “I have not seen the letter and do not know about its contents. But BJP is perhaps the largest party in terms of number of members and if every member takes such a letter to the media it would cause much damage to the party. This is not in the interest of the party.”
He said it would have been better if Mr. Jethmalani had seen to it that the letter was delivered only to Mr. Gadkari.
Mr. Rudy defended Mr. Gadkari, saying he has already submitted himself to an inquiry. However, Mr. Rudy added a caveat that the probe against the BJP president is being conducted by the Congress government which is “hostile” and would “not be pleased” to give him a clean chit.
Asked if Mr. Jethmalani had taken this step to build pressure on Mr. Gadkari to quit, Mr. Rudy said, “There is no question of any pressure.” He maintained that the allegations against Mr. Gadkari have already been debated inside the party.
