BJP meet: Gadkari indirectly slams Sonia & Rahul

Guwahati, Jan 9: Signalling a new strategy in the fight against Congress, Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari on Saturday, Jan 8 did not make a single direct mention of Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi in his written address to the party's National Executive meet.

In an oblique attack on the Congress President, Gadkari said, "Sermons, declaration of multi-point programmes and empty appeals to political functionaries who are your own appointees will make no impact."

His reference was obviously to the five-point action plan against corruption announced by Gandhi at the recent Congress plenary in Delhi.

The BJP chief made a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi too for his reported statement expressing concern over the alleged acts of Hindu radicals.

"Can some of the UPA leaders be so callous and irresponsible as to deal with terrorism in a crass partisan manner with their facts based on inconclusive investigations, even while sharing assessments with foreign diplomats," he asked without naming Rahul.

Party sources, however, said that Gadkari deviated from his written text at the closed-door meeting and did take the name of Sonia Gandhi alleging that Ottavio Quattrocchi was a frequent visitor to the Gandhis'' residence.

Targetting the Prime Minister, Gadkari said, "While looters were emptying the government coffers, Manmohan Singh was standing guard with his eyes closed and perhaps, hands tied."

"These scams are some kind of a planned loot of national coffers," he added. Reports earlier had it that the BJP and the NDA will revive their campaign on Bofors but will stop short of directly attacking Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

The BJP is not keen to launch a personal attack on Sonia or Rahul because these have backfired in the past.

PTI