By IANS,
New Delhi : BJP president Nitin Gadkari Thursday sought an apology from Mumbai-based RTI activist and India Against Corruption (IAC) member Anjali Damania for linking him with NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
“I give you legal notice on behalf of my client Nitin Gadkari to take immediate steps to retract forthwith false, baseless and defamatory remarks and also tender public apology promptly, failing which, I will be at liberty to initiate appropriate legal proceedings against you, for which you be solely responsible,” said the notice sent to Damania by Gadkari’s lawyer Shamshery and Associates here.
“My client strongly denies the false, baseless and defamatory statement that he has any business relations with Sharad Pawar. You are making such false and baseless statements only to make sensation with the object to defame my client,” said the notice.
The notice further said the BJP chief has a good reputation in the country and in public at large.
“The party cadre and supporters look up to him for guidance and directions on important issues of country, including the view of BJP on same,” it said.
Damania, a Right To Information activist, has accused Gadkari of going soft on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) by not taking a stand on the multi-crore irrigation scam.
Damania told NDTV that when she met Gadkari in August at his Worli (Mumbai) home, he told her to not push too hard to expose the scam.
Damania told CNN-IBN channel that Gadkari told her “there is nothing much that we can do about it … Sharad Pawar ji ke saath hamara uthna bethna hai (we are friends with Sharad Pawar).”