Digvijay takes a dig at Gadkari for calling him ''chillar neta''

Bhopal, Jan 20 (PTI) Congress general secretary DigvijaySingh today took a dig at Nitin Gadkari for calling him a''chillar neta'', saying that the BJP president was a''billionaire'' in his view.

"I was Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for 10 long yearsand Gadkari who has never won an election in his life wasminister for only one term in Maharashtra," he told PTI here.

Singh said that despite being in politics for a longtime, he was still in Gadkari''s eyes a "chillar neta" (pettyleader) but for him the BJP chief was a "billionaire".

The Congress leader, who recently made controversialstatements against the RSS, said there was no point incriticising him as whatever he had said had proved to be true.

"All my critics should understand that whatever I hadsaid about the involvement of the members of the Sangh Pariwarhas been proved to be correct," Singh said.

Noting that an impression has been "wrongly" gainingground that he was against Hindus, Singh said there was notruth in the statement. "I am a Hindu and my wife and kids areall Hindus, so it would be wrong to say that I will ever beagainst Hindus," he said.

The Congress leader said he had only talked about thoseHindus who had links with the RSS and who were found involvedin terrorist activities.

Singh had recently triggered a controversy by claimingthat slain Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief HemantKarkare had spoken to him about threats from radicalright-wing groups before his death in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorattack.

After the confession (rpt confession) by SwamiAseemanand, allegedly involved in Samjhauta Express blast,before a magistrate, Singh said it was clear that RSS and BJPwere sheltering people involved in terrorist activities.

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Referring to the Income Tax department''s claims of having detected disproportionate wealth valued at a whopping Rs 360crore from suspended Madhya Pradesh IAS officer coupleArvindand Tinu Joshi, Singh demanded an inquiry into theassets owned by the state ministers.

"At a time when a bureaucrat couple has been found toamass wealth in crores, it is anybody''s guess how much moneyis owned by ministers in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Singh said that an assessment should be made to find outthe properties that the ministers owned in 2003 and those thatthey have in their possession right now. "The assessment willprove that ministers in Madhya Pradesh now own propertyrunning into crores of rupees," he claimed.

The Congress leader said that he wanted to focus his timeand energies for Uttar Pradesh and Assam, where assemblyelections are due soon.