IAC drops name bomb, says it was Gadkari

After being in two minds over naming him, India Against Corruption (IAC) member Anjali Damania revealed that it was BJP national president Nitin Gadkari who had declined to act against NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

The declaration came through a press statement issued by the IAC on Thursday.

During the press conference on Wednesday, Damania, who has used the RTI Act to fight against corruption in irrigation projects, referred to a party president in the Opposition who had refused to help her in the fight citing business interests with the NCP. “When I met the president of a party with the incriminating documents, he said ‘I have business links with Sharad Pawar and we cannot go against him’,” she had said.

In the statement issued on Thursday, the IAC claimed that Damania met Gadkari on August 14 — the year was not mentioned — when the stand of a few BJP functionaries had both heartened and disturbed them.

The statement said that Damania and her supporters were happy when BJP leaders Kirit Somaiya and Devendra Phadnavis filed a public interest litigation against the irregularities in the irrigation projects. But they were soon disappointed following rumours that Bhaiyu Maharaj [spiritual advisor for most politicians in the state], on behalf of the NCP, met Gadkari and asked them to drop the case.

The statement claimed when Damania met Gadkari at his Worli residence, he declined to move against Pawar on the corruption charges. Gadkari reportedly chided Damania for lack of political sense and said Somaiya was “an eccentric person to attempt a PIL”.

The IAC mail quoted Gadkari: “Sharad Pawar ke saath hamara uthana baithna hai, ham saath dhanda karte hai. Woh hamare char kaam karte hai, aur hum unke char kaam karte hai. (Sharad Pawar and we are friends and do business together. We do favours for each other.)

Gadkari reportedly even told Damania that they might even partner in the forthcoming polls.

DNA tried to contact Damania, but she was not available for comment. Bhaiyu Maharaj later denied meeting Gadkari for the said negotiations on television.

Defending Gadkari, Somaiya said: “I had filed the PIL more than a month back. The last hearing was on Monday and the court passed some strictures to the government. BJP has been fighting against corruption for the last two years... My party and the president both are behind me. Ajit Pawar has to go.”