The Congress on Monday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to explain its stand on Ram Jethmalani, particularly in the light of the latter defending Afzal Guru in court in a bid to prove his innocence.
Reacting to the Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari's remark whether “Afzal Guru [was] the son-in-law of the Congress party,” Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, said the BJP should explain its relations with Mr. Jethmalani, who defended Afzal Guru and was then made Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Rajasthan. “What is Mr. Jethmalani to Mr. Gadkari,” he asked.
Addressing journalists at the Uttar Pradesh Congress headquarters here on Monday, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said the BJP should also clarify why no action was taken against the assassins of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, when L.K. Advani was in office for six years.
Mr. Singh said Mr. Gadkari had earlier made derogatory remarks against Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh, and himself — Mr. Singh. He said the Congress did not want to pay heed to someone like Mr. Gadkari.
He said the BJP leader had never won an election and owed his current status to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat as the two lived in the same locality in Nagpur.
