RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who devoted a major part of his customary Vijayadashami speech in Nagpur to anti-corruption drives, refused to comment on allegations levelled against BJP president Nitin Gadkari and said “it was an internal matter of the party”.
“I have already touched upon the issue of corruption in my speech. If you want to know more, please speak to Manmohan Vaidya (the publicity wing chief),” he said after his speech.
When contacted by ‘Express’, Vaidya denied that the Sangh had asked for any explanation from Gadkari.
The RSS leader said “a media trial (of Gadkari) was on” and that “he would explain before the party”.
Bhagwat said: “The mind-boggling revelations of corruption have not come to an end yet. Many small and big agitations are being conducted to demand punishment to the corrupt, to bring back black money stashed away in foreign banks and for making stringent laws to curb corruption.”
Meanwhile, sources said while a section of the RSS leadership, including Suresh Soni, believed that the recent charges against Gadkari did bring to the fore the issue of political propriety, the Big Two of the organisation -- Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi -- were firmly with Gadkari, even as they hoped that the party president would come out clean.