'Vajpayee's sympathy an elderly concern for Rahul'

"Let the law take its own course. It's a medico-legal case which we would not like to interfere with," BJP says.

The BJP on Tuesday described former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's public sympathy for Rahul Mahajan as an expression of elderly concern even as it maintained distance from the sordid episode involving the 31 year old son of the late party leader Pramod Mahajan.

HT Image

"What he (Vajpayee) has said about Rahul is an expression of concern by a grandfather towards his grandchild. So far as the BJP is concerned, we have already described the incident as a tragic family affair," party spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters following the arrest of Mahajan under anti-narcotic law.

On Sunday, Vajpayee called Rahul Mahajan's suspected drug addiction an age phenomenon and a result of "bad company".

The BJP, however, maintained it had no role in what is now a legal case.

"Let the law take its own course. It's a medico-legal case which we would not like to interfere with," Javadekar said.