Congress leaders' 'mischievous' post on Nitin Gadkari aimed at creating discontent in BJP, says Chandrashekar Bawankule

Chandrashekar Bawankule. File Pic

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekar Bawankule on Saturday hit out Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Jairam Ramesh for their "mischievous" post on Union minister Nitin Gadkari, saying their move was aimed at creating discontent in the ruling party, reported news agency PTI.

Calling Gadkari an asset for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said the Union minister has been working with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development of the country, reported PTI.

He made the statement a day after Gadkari sent legal notices to Congress leaders for allegedly sharing misleading and defamatory news contents about him on X.

Gadkari's lawyer said Congress leaders deliberately posted a 19-second video clip of the minister's interview given to "The Lallantop" web portal, concealing the contextual intent and meaning of his words. The notice said Gadkari's interview was twisted, distorted and presented by uploading the video that is bereft and devoid of the contextual meaning, reported PTI.

Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, Bawankule said, "BJP condemns the post shared by Congress (leaders) about Union minister Nitin Gadkari. Some people think that posting such videos will create discontent in our party. Some people have done this mischief and we have given legal notice to them...People will not spare such individuals," reported PTI.

"It (the post) is an absolute lie, Nitin ji is an asset for dev, dharm, sanskar and our party. He has an important place in terms of development in the government," he added, reported PTI.

"BJP condemns the cheating done to Nitin ji. He has worked shoulder to shoulder with PM Modi ji for the development of the poor and the country," Bawankule said, reported PTI.

Replying to a query on Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar's statement that winning Nagpur Lok Sabha seat was very easy for his outfit it fights it properly, the state BJP chief said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will win this constituency (currently represented by Gadkari) with a huge margin, reported PTI.

He also said that there was no possibility of the BJP joining hands with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in future, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)