Gadkari meets Raje, says BJP strongly backs her

Amid the raging row over Lalit Modi's linkages with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Indian Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday met her here and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the central government are strongly behind her as "accusations" against her have "no substance".

Gadkari, a senior BJP leader, insisted that Raje had done no wrong and said that such issues should not be brought into politics.

"The allegations against Vasundhara Raje are baseless.... Vasundhara ji legally, logically, ethically is completely correct. There is no fault of hers anywhere," the Union Road Transport and Highways Minister told reporters amid the raging row over the linkages of the Chief Minister and her son with Lalit Modi who is facing ED probe for alleged money laundering in an IPL tournament.

"These accusations have no substance. Doing this kind of politics is not right," he said, adding "BJP, of the Centre, the state and the government is standing behind Vasundhara fully.

"So far as the allegations against her (Vasundhara's) son are concerned, there are business deals and its entry has been made in IT returns," Gadkari said.

Contending that "taking a loan from someone is not a sin", the union minister considered to have strong RSS backing, said, "It is unfortunate how these kinds of deals are being brought into a political debate - be it Sushma ji or be it Vasundhara ji."