'Gadkari tried to approach me ahead of expose'

Two days ahead of a big expose on BJP national president Nitin Gadkari, RTI activist and India Against Corruption (IAC) member Anjali Damania has alleged that he had tried to approach her through intermediaries last week. Harinder Baweja reports.

Two days ahead of a big expose on BJP national president Nitin Gadkari, RTI activist and India Against Corruption (IAC) member Anjali Damania has alleged that he had tried to approach her through intermediaries last week. Gadkari allegedly wanted Damania to go slow on Maharashtra’s irrigation scam.

“I was told that Gadkari wanted to talk to me privately. I got a few calls last week, but they backed off when I said he will have to meet me in public. I will expose him on Wednesday,’’ she said. An aide of Gadkari, however, denied any such claim.

Damania will be in Delhi for a joint press conference with Arvind Kejriwal on October 17, during which she would lay out evidence to support the claim against Gadkari.

Last month, Damania said that she had met Gadkari to seek his help. The BJP president, however, said that he had “business relations” with Sharad Pawar — whose National Congress Party is allied with the Congress in Maharashtra, it was alleged. Following this, Gadkari slapped a defamation case against Damania.

Damania, who now says she was approached by Gadkari, claims she will prove how “he has been systemically lying”.

After accusing Robert Vadra and Salman Khurshid for misappropriations, Kejriwal has indicated that his next expose will be on Gadkari.

When asked if there was any pressure on the IAC to go slow on the Gadkari expose, party member Shazia Ilmi said, “There is no question of backing off. There was a time when the BJP used to bat for us on television, but they are now uncomfortable because they know that corruption is our enemy – irrespective of political parties.”