Ready to face any probe: Gadkari

New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Facing demands from a section of his party for his resignation over financial dealings of a company linked to him, BJP president Nitin Gadkari Wednesday said he was ready to face any probe.

Addressing a BJP protest rally at Jantar Mantar here ahead of the winter session of parliament, Gadkari said there was an attempt to defame the party leaders as they were trying to expose corruption.

“There is an attempt to defame us. We are clean. There is no need to fear and we are ready to face any probe. I want to assure you that we have not done anything wrong,” he said.

Gadkari accused the Congress of misusing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to gain political leverage with regional parties for survival of the Congress−led United Progressive Alliance government here.

Referring to Kasab’s hanging, Gadkari said it had been delayed. He accused the Congress of vote−bank politics and asked why parliament attack convict Afzal Guru has not been hanged so far.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said it was important to destroy the “terror factories” in Pakistan. He said the country was moving from the “path of liberalization to economic dependence”.

Former party president Rajnath Singh accused the government of playing into foreign hands and said it has violated its solemn assurance to parliament by going ahead with the decision to allow foreign direct investment in multi−brand retail.

He said that while a few lakh jobs may be created FDI in retail will affect the livelihood of crores of people.

Many party leaders later marched towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s house and courted arrest.

The BJP−led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has decided to demand a discussion on FDI issue in parliament under rules which entail voting.

IANS 2012-11-21 21:34:03