BJP says no 'clean chit' to Sonia Gandhi on black money issue

Notwithstanding senior BJP leader LK Advani's regret letter to Sonia Gandhi, his party today said the Congress president or her late husband Rajiv Gandhi had not been given a "clean chit" on the issue of black money.
    
"It is not a clean chit. Investigations into black money parked abroad are still on and one should wait for the process to end," BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde told reporters.
    
He was asked whether Advani's letter meant the party has cleared Gandhi's name in the black money issue.
    
In his brief letter to Gandhi, Advani had said "I am happy that you have denied the reports relating to you and your family alluded to in the Task Force's Report on Black Money.
    
"If these had been denied earlier the Task Force would have taken your denial into account. Even so, I deeply regret the distress caused to you."
    
The BJP leader expressed regret after Gandhi sent him a terse letter, saying she did not expect a leader of his "stature" to level such allegations.
    
Meanwhile, NDA convenor Sharad Yadav defended Advani's letter to Gandhi.
    
"The allegations were never refuted. But when she refuted the charge, Advani accepted it...we are in politics and fight for what is right," said Yadav, the chief of JD(U) which is a key ally of the BJP.
    
He said the issue of black money stashed abroad would be taken up during the Budget session by the NDA. "We have been raising this issue and continue to do so...it is a big issue," he said.