WON’T QUIT AS BJP PRESIDENT: GADKARI
‘WON’T PROJECT ANYBODY AS PM BEFORE POLLS’
New Delhi, Nitin Gadkari has made it clear that he will not quit as BJP president. Speaking at the session – kab khilega kamal—at Agenda Aajtak ,TV Today Network Conclave, Gadkari said, “There’s no FIR, no income-tax notice, no court summons against me. I cannot be dishonest just on the basis of allegations and perception. There’s no question of resigning as party president. Prove one allegation against me and I will quit. I am Dabangg and I believe in responding with eye for an eye.”
He also said, “Kejriwal’s allegations of land grab have been proved false. My links with Pawar have also been negated.
To cap the debate on Modi being the prime ministerial candidate, Gadkari said BJP won’t project any leader for the top post before the Lok Sabha elections. “We will decide on the PM’s candidate after the election results. We will wait for the scenarios to emerge after the results. Our party doesn’t believe in PM from PM’s womb.
Will Gadkari get a second term as BJP president? “I didn’t go to anybody to become party president. The decision will be taken by the BJP parliamentary board.”
But will the BJP face the drubbing again in 2014? “It’s the era of coalition politics. Regional parties don’t want to back the Congress. Once we get close to the 275 figure, all these parties will fall in line. The BJP is no untouchable. It’s all about the politics of convenience. If they did not support us on FDI in parliament, it’s because of the fear of CBI.”
KYA WAPAS AAYEGA KALA DHAN
At Agenda Aaj Tak, there was a heated exchange between Baba Ramdev and Congress politician Sanjay Nirupam on the issue of bringing back black money into the country. Ramdev claimed money from abroad as FDI in multi-brand retail is just a fraction of the black money stashed abroad. He also accused Congress MPs of being agents of Walmart.
Ramdev said, “Why do we need Rs 2lakh crore FDI when more than Rs 10-16 lakh crore black money is stashed abroad. Black money is around 18-21% of the GDP. If the money is brought back, India’s growth will automatically rise. The issue of corruption will be a big issue in the next elections and the Congress-led government which is on ventilator will be wiped out.”
Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam tried to counter the Yoga guru by saying that “India is bound by the double tax avoidance agreement and 700 names of Indians who have stashed money abroad cannot be named because it will be a violation of the bilateral agreements with foreign countries. He said it was a technical issue which is being given a political colour.”
Nirupam accused Ramdev with doing business with yoga and charged him with not paying service tax of Rs 9000 crore.
Ramdev said, “It’s shocking that donations to Patanjali Yoga peeth is taxable, while donations to the Congress party is not taxable. If there’s black money in Patanjali Yog Peeth, I will not enter the ashram.”
Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said the country has taken several steps to invigorate its intelligence apparatus after the 26/11 attacks.
Talking about the secret execution of 26/11 accused, Ajmal Kasab, he said, “It was a secret operation and my police background helped me to put the mission in place. The toughest part of the operation was the transportation of Kasab from the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai to Pune. And it was a top-secret. The Afzal Guru files have come to me and I am examining it.”
To a query at Agenda Aaj Tak on whether India will embark on another secret mission to smoke out terrorists like Dawood Ibrahim, Shinde said, “The government is hammering out a strategy and talking to international agencies to extradite not only Dawood, but all terrorists holed up in other countries.”
So why has Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik being invited when the country has done nothing to bring the 26/11 guilty to book, Shine said, “International relations have to maintained. Sports and cultural exchanges should continue. But we are making visa norms very stringent”.
