New Delhi, Nov. 12 (ANI): Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Monday said that M.G. Vaidya's alleged remark that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was behind the dissent against Nitin Gadkari proves the fact that the RSS remote controls the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and that the umbilical cord stretches all the way back to Nagpur.
"Without going into the merits of what the RSS has to say about the fight within the Bharatiya Janata Party, I think the statement importantly underscores the fact that the RSS remote controls the Bharatiya Janata Party, the umbilical cord stretches all the way back to Nagpur," said Tewari.
"Otherwise, why should the RSS be really concerned as to which faction of the Bharatiya Janata Party is attacking whom or who is the beneficiary and who is the casualty. This myth, which they have tried to perpetuate, is that they have an arms length relationship with the Bharatiya Janata Party stands completely exposed by the articulation of the RSS today," he added.
Vaidya earlier said Modi is designing the dissent within the BJP over whether Gadkari should continue in office.
"The roots of the campaign against Nitin Gadkari have to be in Gujarat because when Ram Jethmalani demanded Gadkari's resignation, he also demanded that Narendra Modi be made the prime ministerial candidate of the party," Vaidya wrote in his blog on Sunday.
"Modi himself seems to have strong prime ministerial ambitions because LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari have already said that they are not in the race for the PM. But Narendra Modi has still not said anything on this issue," he added.
Vaidya said it was important that the BJP appears united and also that 'there is no need to deliberate over the PM candidate for 2014 now in 2012'.
Vaidya in his blog also wrote: "Ram Jethmalani should not have expressed his displeasure against Nitin Gadkari publicly. Any BJP member or MP can feel that Nitin Gadkari should resign, but they should raise this issue on the party platform."
Earlier, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani and his son Mahesh had said Gadkari should immediately step down from his post as the charges against him were damaging the party.
Ram Jethmalani claimed to have the support of other party leaders like Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha.
"I have been in touch with Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha. We seem to be on the same wavelength. But I don't presume to predict how they are going to act today or tomorrow. But we four of us are clearly of the opinion that a resignation at this time from the party president is imminently called for," Jethmalani had said. (ANI)