A defiant Ram Jethmalani today diasapproved the BJP’s core group backing Nitin Gadkari, saying the party is losing moral ground in the fight against corruption.

“It is a betrayal of the people,” Jethmalani, Rajya Sabha MP and noted lawyer, said in a written statement in response to yesterday’s decision of the BJP core group in supporting Gadkari’s continuation as party president.

Jethmalani, who spearheaded the public revolt against Gadkari, made known his unhappiness with the party leadership ignoring his advice that Gadkari must resign in the wake of allegations of dubious transactions involving his company.

“In the course of my fight against corruption, which may even turn out to be a lone fight, I will find it necessary to call for resignation of many persons holding important political and public offices,” Jethmalani said.

“In this respect the party’s decision has sapped my vitality…I wish good luck to Mr Gadkari, Sh Gurumurthy and the members of the core group,” he said sarcastically in his statement.

Reacting to party’s appeal to all its leaders and workers not to air such views in public which hurt the image of the party, Jethmalani said, “The gag order does not apply to me. It applies to senior leaders. I am not a leader of the party much less a senior leader. I do propose, however, not to speak about this Gadkari affair anymore, except that it’s my duty to warn the party that it is losing moral ground and emasculating the party’s strength to fight the war against corruption.”

Won’t resign from party, will carry on fight

Earlier Jethmalani said he will carry on his fight against the BJP President but will not quit the party.

“I will carry on my fight alone if necessary, whatever the BJP might decide…I won’t resign from the party, because I want to carry on the fight. Why should I?,” he said when asked if he was considering resigning from the party after Gadkari got a reprieve following RSS support.

Jethmalani, however, left it to the BJP leadership to decide on whether to allow Gadkari to continue.

“They are respectable people, they hear everything what is happening in the press. It is for them to decide,” he said.

Cong attacks BJP for backing Gadkari

Congress on Wednesday attacked BJP for giving a clean chit to its President Nitin Gadkari facing charges of owning shell companies, alleging it has shown the “bankruptcy” of the opposition party’s leadership and the “mask” has now come off “exposing its real face”.

I and B Minister Manish Tewari told reporters that “this is a strange process and an incredible mechanism in which the informer, investigator and the judge is the same”.

He was apparently ridiculing the move by BJP to get a detailed presentation on investments made in Gadkari’s company Purti Sugar and Power by chartered accountant S Gurumurthy.

Gurumurthy, an RSS ideologue, was specially invited at the meeting of BJP Core Group on Tuesday, after which the party announced its backing to Gadkari.

“The mask is off. The real face of BJP, which used to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh every now and then, stands exposed now,” Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary said at AICC’s media briefing accusing the party of “double speak” on the issue of corruption.

AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad said BJP’s giving a clean chit to Gadkari shows “bankruptcy” of the party leadership and its ideology.