Congress condemns BJP for defending Gadkari (Update: Congress)

New Delhi, Oct 25 (ANI): Launching a fresh attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in connection with the graft charges against party president Nitin Gadkari, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said on Thursday that though the main opposition party is continuously defending its president, the truth has come out in the public domain.

Reacting to media reports about the false addresses of 18 companies holding 80 percent stake in the Gadkari owned Purti Group, Alvi said the BJP has had a history of protecting the corrupt.

"Every party has a certain character and a specific ideology. The chief of that party represents that party and is the party's face. Gadkari is the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party. If he is neck deep in corruption and the BJP still allows him to hold the president post, then we can also recall that Bangaru Laxman, a former BJP chief whom the BJP tried continuously defend, was punished by the court," :said Alvi.

Media reports show that those 18 companies are not located at the addresses mentioned on the Purti Group's website. However, the Managing Director of Purti Group, Sudhir Dive, has out rightly dismissed the corruption allegations against Gadkari, saying he had resigned from the company 14 months ago.

Recently, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding a probe into fraud charges against Gadkari.

Congress leader and Minister of State for Telecom Sachin Pilot also said that a detailed investigation into the allegations should be carried out.

"The federal agencies should initiate the probe at the right time.If there are malafide intentions or irregularities, then appropriate action should be taken. The law will take its course, there are very well laid down procedures on how to proceed on this front, but I think, Mr. Gadkari, even though he has offered himself up for a probe, I do not know yet whether the probe is on or not, but if there is any allegations being made, I

think an investigation is required, and it must be done," said Pilot.

Earlier, India Against Corruption (IAC) members Anjali Damania and Arvind Kejriwal accused Gadkari of a 'political quid pro quo' for acquiring 100 acre of farmers' land through dubious means for his private trust.(ANI)