Nothing wrong in ministers donating for Sonia Gandhi's rally: Vilasrao Deshmukh

Union heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh today said he saw nothing wrong in Maharashtra Congress ministers donating money for party chief Sonia Gandhi's public rally near Nagpur.

"Workers and leaders of every political party donate money to their parties for organising programmes and campaigns and there is nothing wrong in it," he told reporters here.

The state Congress is alleged to have collected funds from its ministers for Sonia Gandhi's rally at Sewagram, 80km from Nagpur, yesterday.

Asked about the issue, Deshmukh, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, said, "Media has made a mountain out of a molehill."

The controversy arose when news channels on Thursday aired footage showing state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre discussing with former minister Satish Chaturvedi the issue of collecting funds from Congress ministers, including chief minister Ashok Chavan, for the rally.

To a query, Deshmukh said the arrangements made for the rally were excellent and Thakre should get the credit for it.

Denying the charge that he was masterminding the plot against Thakre, Deshmukh said, "Most of the time I am in New Delhi and came to know about the allegations from the media." He said Thakre would be the best person to talk about the alleged plot.