New Delhi: BJP veteran Shanta Kumar, whose damning letter to party president Amit Shah has gone public, told NDTV today that he stands by his charges and spoke his mann ki baat - his party is unlikely to appreciate his borrowing the title of the PM's regular radio chats to the country.
In his letter, written last week, Mr Kumar, 80, asks for "an ethics committee to act like a Lokpal (ombudsman) to root out corruption." He also says the Vyapam or recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh "has made us all bow our heads in shame".
Mr Kumar's letter has come as the Congress has been pressing for the sacking of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scandal and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj for extending favours to tainted cricket mogul Lalit Modi.
After the letter went public, sources in the BJP said Mr Kumar was phoned by colleague JP Nadda and told to "observe restraint." Mr Kumar had a different interpretation. "Nadda is like my little brother, he is also from Himachal. I talked with him and told him that I wrote whatever was in my mind. There is a misconception that I am being told to stay quiet".
Shanta Kumar is the first BJP leader to publicly go against the line of the party, which has stoutly defended its ministers and has, in a series of meetings since Sunday, decided that it will aggressively counter the opposition's attack on them.
In his letter, written last week, Mr Kumar, 80, asks for "an ethics committee to act like a Lokpal (ombudsman) to root out corruption." He also says the Vyapam or recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh "has made us all bow our heads in shame".
Mr Kumar's letter has come as the Congress has been pressing for the sacking of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the Vyapam scandal and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj for extending favours to tainted cricket mogul Lalit Modi.
After the letter went public, sources in the BJP said Mr Kumar was phoned by colleague JP Nadda and told to "observe restraint." Mr Kumar had a different interpretation. "Nadda is like my little brother, he is also from Himachal. I talked with him and told him that I wrote whatever was in my mind. There is a misconception that I am being told to stay quiet".
Advertisement
Shanta Kumar is the first BJP leader to publicly go against the line of the party, which has stoutly defended its ministers and has, in a series of meetings since Sunday, decided that it will aggressively counter the opposition's attack on them.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Amit Shah In High-Level Security Meet Reviews Deployment Strategy In J&K Greater Synergy Among Agencies Will Help To Smash Terror Networks: Amit Shah Drugs Trade Linked To Narco-Terror A Threat To National Security: Amit Shah Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Die In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Full Recovery From Global IT Outage Could Take Time: 10 Points Army Readjusts Troop Deployment In Jammu Region To Counter Terror Attacks India Hints At Roles Of Pakistan, China That Could Undermine Shanghai Bloc Deadly Viper On The Rise: Bangladesh Grapples With Snake Crisis Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.