Joshi throws his weight behind Advani

BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today stood firmly behind L K Advani, who upset a section of the party by tendering an apology to Sonia Gandhi for a party-appointed task force report accusing AICC chief and her late husband Rajiv of having accounts in Swiss banks.

Joshi, a known bete noire of Advani, praised him, saying the apology shows the "decency" of the senior leader and added that the move would strengthen the party''s campaign against black money.

Dismissing the perception that Advani''s apology will weaken the BJP''s campaign against the UPA over the blackmoney issue, Joshi said, "This will strengthen our campaign as it shows his decency."

BJP had appointed the task force on unravelling the amount of black money stashed by Indians in foreign banks and ways to bring it back. The report had alleged that Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were among Indians who held Swiss bank accounts. This had led Sonia Gandhi to write a letter to Advani denying the allegation.
Sources said in the letter, Gandhi had said that neither she nor her husband held Swiss bank accounts. In his reply to the Congress President''s letter, Advani expressed regret of her name and that of her late husband being mentioned in the task force report. However, Advani also stated in his reply that the Gandhis should have denied this publicly when there were murmurs that names of her family members could figure in the report.