Ghaziabad, Sep. 27 (ANI): Reacting sharply to whistleblower Anjali Damania's charges of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari being in agreement with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on the Rs.72, 000 crore irrigation scam in Maharashtra, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar on Thursday blamed the Congress for spreading this canard.
Javadekar vehemently denied the nsinuation, and categorically stated that the BJP is not "hand in love" with the NCP.
"We are not hand in glove with NCP," he stated.
Accusing the Congress-NCP coalition of "looting" Maharashtra, he said such reports are the Congress' ploy to divert attention from the BJP's battle against its corruption.
"The story that is doing the rounds that our party president Nitin Gadkari is in tacit understanding with NCP is a bogus story. No credibility should be given to any unknown person. We are a serious party in governance, and whenever we are in Opposition, we are fighting against Congress- NCP misrule. This type of canard being spread is a Congress design. Our president has, umpteen times referred to the irrigation scam. Kirit Somaiya has filed a PIL, and our leaders of opposition in both Houses are fighting against it," he said.
Earlier, in a new twist to the political crisis in Maharashtra that has risen from an irrigation scam, Damania named Gadkari for trying to suppress it.
Damania said that when she met Gadkari in August at his home in Worli, Mumbai, he told her to not push too hard to expose the scam.
Damania said that the BJP's attitude was very discouraging, as was that of Gadkari, who even allegedly stated to having business ties with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.
Without naming Gadkari, Damania said 'the opposition party chief' told her "we help Pawar and he helps us, can't do anything in this scam."
She claimed to have met Gadkari thrice, once in Delhi in June 2011 and twice in Mumbai, in August 2011 and August 14 this year.
"Since the NCP and the Congress are together, we went to the opposition party, but they strictly told me that they could not do anything about it. Their party president himself told me that he could not do anything regarding this; he shares businesses with Sharad Pawar. They help each other in their matters. So, he could not do anything about it. We were shocked after getting such kind of a reply," she said.
The BJP is in the opposition in Maharashtra. NCP leader Ajit Pawar, who has submitted his resignation from the post of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, has been accused by his political opponents of being involved in the irrigation scam when he was the state's water resources minister. (ANI)
