Nitin Gadkari lying, says Prithviraj Chavan in reply to ‘joining BJP’ remark

MUMBAI: Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday called BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari a liar after the former alleged that Chavan wanted to join the BJP 13 years ago. “If Gadkari can prove his allegations then I will quit politics,” Chavan said at a rally in Mumbai.

Speaking at a public meeting in Chavan’s constituency, Karad, Gadkari had said, “Prithviraj Chavan was on the Nagpur Improvement Trust in 2001 when he celled me one night, saying that he was fed up of the Congress party and wanted to join the BJP. I was surprised to hear this. Now, this person has been made the CM without getting support from the MLAs. He is the chosen one of Congress party’s first family.”

Reacting to this allegation, a furious Prithviraj said, “I am shocked to hear these allegations. I did not even know Gadkari earlier. I met him for the first time after I took over as the CM in Mumbai. I know that he was removed as President of the BJP because of allegations of corruption. I am shocked to hear a lie from him. I want to say that this person is a liar and I will quit politics if these allegations are proved. It’s a lie.”

Chavan has been known as a Gandhi family loyalist and took over as CM in Maharashtra after the Adarsh scam exposure forced Ashok Chavan out of the government in November 2010. Chavan has had strained relations with the Sharad Pawar’s NCP and faced allegations of procrastination and indecision from Pawar. Gadkari’s friendly relations with Pawar are already known in the political sphere.

Gadkari is currently facing EC’s notice for his statement telling voters to accept all gifts in the run-up to the polls. He made this statement at a rally in Konkan region recently.

Earlier, Gadkari had made some statements against former CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and faced a defamation case. The case got dismissed after Vilasrao’s death.