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Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari is annoyed at party president Rajnath Singh for not standing by him in his fight against corruption allegations. Though Gadkari hasn’t officially complained to the BJP leadership on the matter, senior party leaders admitted the Maharashtra-based Gadkari was unhappy, as none of the party’s central leaders had supported him during his hour of need.
Relations between Rajnath Singh and Gadkari have soured to the extent that the former party BJP chief has completely stopped conversing with Singh. “Nitin Gadkari feels there is no point in a conversation, as nobody is coming forward to help him. If BJP is like a big family that stands by its members, why is no one defending him? When former BJP president Bangaru Lakshman was arrested in April 2012, Gadkari had gone to jail to meet him, though many BJP leaders had suggested he shouldn’t do so. Now, BJP leaders have completely left Nitin Gadkari,” said a senior BJP leader.
Gadkari wasn’t elected party chief for a second consecutive term, owing to allegations of financial wrongdoings against him. The BJP leadership had elected Rajnath Singh as its president, after L K Advani and other senior leaders had expressed displeasure over Gadkari’s continuation in office.
The former BJP chief feels he was let down by senior BJP leaders because when former Gujarat home minister Amit Shah was facing charges in Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, Gadkari had not only defended him, but had also promised to induct him as party general secretary. Gadkari believes not many BJP leaders had openly associated themselves with Amit Shah when he was fighting a legal battle.
“Amit Shah was promised that he would be appointed BJP general secretary if Nitin Gadkari was elected as BJP chief for the second consecutive term. Gadkari had also promised he would be asked to handle the party’s responsibilities in Uttar Pradesh. Gadkari believes though he had defended Amit Shah, BJP leaders had left Gadkari to defend himself, at a time when he needed their support,” the BJP leader said.
