New Delhi: Hours after senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha fired a salvo at party president demanding his resignation, sources in the party said that the BJP is not willing to sacrifice Nitin Gadkari at this stage. The party, however, remained cautioned in its response to initiating disciplinary action against Sinha.
Speaking to CNN-IBN, BJP disciplinary committee chairman OP Kohli said that since Yashwant Sinha was an MP, any action against him could only be initiated by the party parliamentary board. He said, "The BJP Constitution states clearly that if any act of indiscipline has been carried out by an MP, only parliamentary board can decide."
Later, addressing mediapersons, senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that Sinha should not have made his stand on Gadkari public. He further appealed to Sinha to reconsider his stand on the issue.
This came hours after Sinha took on Gadkari and said that those in public life should be beyond reproach while referring to the alleged irregularities in investments in Gadkari's Purti Group.
"Whether our party president is guilty or not is not the issue today. The issue is that all of us in public life should be beyond reproach," he told PTI. Sinha's demand brings alive once again the campaign initiated by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani and his son Mahesh for the party chief's resignation in the wake of reports of alleged dubious financing of Purti Sugar and Power Group.
The father son duo of Jethmalani, Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh have been leading a campaign to oust Gadkari following allegations of corruption and irregularities.
Sinha's statement is also seen as the beginning of the fight for the party's leadership. With Gadkari under pressure several BJP leaders are eyeing the post of president in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
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