Congress has no credibility on corruption: Gadkari

The Congress has accused the RSS-BJP of backing Ramdevs agitation. Your party has also been accused of trivialising the issue during its one-day satyagraha at Rajghat.

Digvijaya Singh has been making statements but I have doubts about his mental health. His case is different. We should not take him seriously. I never do.

His own party doesnt take him seriously.

This is a fight against corruption and black money. Different kinds of people have come together to participate in it. It is a spontaneous eruption in society.

The Congress has no credibility on corruption. Just as no one believes Pakistan when it says it is fighting terrorism,no one believes the Congress when it says it is fighting corruption.

In the case of the 2G scam,the BJP is looking at the facts,preparing a legal case. We will not spare P Chidambaram. We will go to the CBI,register an FIR against him.

Why Chidambaram?

The Prime Minister has said on record that his (then) finance minister told him that he had seen the (2G) files and they were in order. The subject was not referred to the Cabinet. They tried to undermine the Public Accounts Committee when it became clear that it was investigating and collecting these facts. We have studied the case,Chidambarams remarks are on the files and they indicate that he directly or indirectly supported the deal.

These things are coming out in the open and therefore they (UPA government and Congress) are making unsubstantiated allegations about RSS involvement in the campaigns of Ramdev and Anna Hazare.

You have criticised the police operation in the Ramlila Maidan in apocalyptic terms,even compared it to Jallianwala Bagh.

Unarmed sadhus and sants and women were attacked while they were sleeping and only because they were wearing saffron. What act of bravery has Chidambaram done? You couldnt stop Arundhati Roy and Geelani when they spoke against India. Yet you move against those agitating peacefully against corruption,singing bhajans. And the TV footage is impounded lest the truth comes out.

I want to ask Chidambaram: When the IB had given a report that Binayak Sen has Naxal links,why was he included in one of the Planning Commissions panels on public health?

I had tears in my eyes when I watched the scenes on TV. Does Rahul Gandhi have the moral right to fight for the poor farmers at Bhatta-Parsaul after this? Chidambaram should remember that he wont hold this office forever. If you move against the faith of the Hindu samaj,attack unarmed people… The Congress will have to pay for this…The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi must bear the moral responsibility. But as Home Minister,Chidambaram must take responsibility for the operation. We believe the Prime Minister and Pranab Mukherjee were not in favour of the action.

The US administration has commented on the operation,termed it unfortunate. There is a reaction from the world community.

Now that Ramdev is back at the Yogpeeth,are you in touch with him? Has your party offered him support of BJP-ruled states should he move out of Haridwar?

I have spoken to Baba Ramdev after he was taken back to the Yogpeeth. I have personal relations with him. I have told him the BJP will support him in his cause,if he wants. We are standing behind him. But if he is uncomfortable with taking our support,we will keep our distance. Our position is the same vis-a-vis Anna Hazare as well.

More than Ramdev,we support his issue against black money and for corruption-free India. After all,the issue of black money was first raised by L K Advani.

But what if irregularities and illegalities should surface in Ramdevs empire? Are there apprehensions in the BJP on this score as it throws its weight behind Ramdev?

Till this moment,the government did not see any irregularities in Ramdevs empire! This is mere vendetta. Files are being taken out and Ramdevs supporters are being blackmailed now. This does not behove a democratic government.

As president of the main Opposition party,are you not troubled by the impression that is gaining ground that the fight against corruption is being led by Anna and the Baba. Doesnt it worry you that the BJP in particular and the political party in general is letting the initiative on a crucial issue slip into the non-political or even anti-political domain?

This does not worry me. Corruption is an issue for everyone in society and the nation for all castes,religions,parties,professions. It cannot be an agenda of a political party alone.

The BJP may have a difference of opinion with Anna Hazare and his team,but we support his cause. On the Lokpal bill,for instance,we have refused to give our opinion.

But I dont subscribe to the view that only the political party must lead the campaign,or that all things must be done by politics and politicians. There cannot be a political monopoly.

If there is an anti-political sentiment in the people,we cannot blame it on the people. The onus is on politicians to restore the faith of the people in politics.

The present juncture can be compared with the situation that developed after the Allahabad High Court judgment against Indira Gandhi. Today,Sonia Gandhi has no answer. Now,as then,fascist and dictatorial tendencies are gaining ground.