I have full support of BJP leaders: Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan. 24: Strongly denying that he is an RSS appointee imposed in the BJP, the party’s new chief Nitin Gadkari has claimed of having full support of party seniors. He also said that he is not a "puppet" of any of his senior colleagues.
A saffron loyalist, Mr Gadkari’s elevation to the top post is often attributed to his proximity to the RSS. Speculation had been rife both within and outside the BJP that it was the RSS which had put forward his name for the post of BJP chief. Speaking on the issue of his appointment as the new BJP chief and whether senior leaders, including Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu, support him, Mr Gadkari, in a television interview, said: "I’m telling you that all leaders are with me. They are supporting me from the core of their heart and they have guided me very properly, taking all precaution about my activity, and they are supporting me."
Mr Gadkari, who has confessed to being new to Central politics, denied that these senior leaders were turning him into a puppet. "Not at all they have such type of intention. And the people who know me know that I will never become a puppet. I can make bonafide mistakes but I cannot make malafide mistakes," said the BJP chief.
On the RSS issue, Mr Gadkari said: "After the last four years as the president of the BJP in Maharashtra, the RSS is part of my life conviction. But RSS leaders never direct me, never give me any instruction. And even as BJP president, I am taking my own decisions."
He insisted that senior BJP leader L.K. Advani and his predecessor Rajnath Singh were the first to suggest that he should become BJP president.
He denied that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had imposed him on the BJP.
However, Mr Gadkari maintained that the BJP and the RSS have an "ideological relationship" and the party often discusses issues with the latter.
AGE CORRESPONDENT
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