Hours after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh threw its weight behind the beleaguered BJP president, Nitin Gadkari, the party’s brass, who met here on Friday night, announced unambiguously that the party stood rock solid behind him and the charges against him were ‘baseless and untrue’.
Senior leaders, including L.K. Advani, met to take stock of the political fallout of the allegations levelled against Mr. Gadkari. The meeting said the charges were motivated and should be treated with the contempt they deserved.
Earlier, in a formal statement — an unusual move when the BJP president is in the middle of a political storm triggered by allegations of irregularities and misdemeanour by companies in which he has stakes — the RSS trained its guns on sections of the media’ and ‘some selfish elements’ for politicising the discourse on corruption. The reference to selfish elements is directed at Mr. Gadkari’s detractors within the BJP.
According to sources, the Sangh is of the view that though the charges against Mr. Gadkari would undermine the BJP’s fight against the Congress on the plank of corruption, the Nagpur boy, who was propped up as party president by the RSS, is the best bet at the moment.
The Sangh is also believed to have factored in the campaign by influential leaders within the BJP, who have prime ministerial ambitions, to oust Mr. Gadkari, and sent a clear message that the BJP chief continued to enjoy its confidence.
