Gadkari flays Sonia, Cong hits back

The Congress demanded an apology from the BJP after party president Nitin Gadkari compared Sonia Gandhi’s battle against corruption with Pakistan’s resolve to fight terror.

The Congress demanded an apology from the BJP after party president Nitin Gadkari compared Sonia Gandhi’s battle against corruption with Pakistan’s resolve to fight terror.

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“We strongly condemn the extremely outrageous remarks made by the BJP chief against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Gadkari has reduced the platform of BJP and national discourse to gutter-level politics. He should apologise for his remarks,” said party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarjan.

The BJP leader had said in Kolkata, “Sonia Gandhi says she will fight corruption. I say it is like Pakistan saying we will fight terrorism.” Alleging that Gadkari was unfit for any role at the national level or in a democracy, Natarajan recalled Gadkari's earlier derogatory remarks, including his branding of opposition leaders as dogs.

She alleged that Gadkari's remarks reflected the mindset of the leader who represents an ideology that breeds “hatred, divisiveness and murder”.

“The deafening silence of the BJP's national leadership on the Swami's death exposes its double standards on corruption… Not a single word is said about corruption in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and the murder of Swami Nigamanand,” she said. She termed CID inquiry by the state as “nothing but a white wash of the incident.”