Gadkari revelation: Farmer named by IAC missing
The wife of a farmer from Vidarbha, Gajanan Ghadge, named by India Against Corruption while bringing out the revelations against BJP President Nitin Gadkari, has told CNN-IBN that her husband has been missing since the controversy began.
October 18, 2012 / 12:42 IST
The wife of a farmer from Vidarbha, Gajanan Ghadge, named by India Against Corruption while bringing out the revelations against BJP President Nitin Gadkari, has told CNN-IBN that her husband has been missing since the controversy began. She said that she is living in fear and does not know whether or not she should file a complaint.
India Against Corruption had claimed that Gadkari's men were threatening her. Gadkari is alleged to have got the land that belonged to her husband. Arvind Kejriwal had said Gadkari's business links were harming the interests of farmers. Kejriwal alleged that the state government acquired excess land and did not give it back to farmers as per law. He said Gajanan Ghadge had approached the government seeking return of his land. But the government sat on it for almost two years but when Gadkari wrote a letter seeking transfer of the same land to him, Pawar wrote a letter recommending it in four days, he alleged. "There was action on Gadkari's letter very fast but a representation by the farmer did not get any response for two years. And when it came, they were not given back," Kejriwal said.Kejriwal on Wednesday turned his guns on Nitin Gadkari, alleging that the BJP president's factories are robbing farmers of their land and irrigation water in Maharashtra. He accused Gadkari of grabbing farmers' land and corruption in collusion with NCP's Ajit Pawar but the BJP quickly dismissed the charges as "laughable".Accusing Gadkari of taking over land taken away from a farmer in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, Kejriwal said Gadkari was promoting his business interests at the cost of farmers. "Whose interests does Gadkari represent? He has a very big business empire. His interests are clashing with those of Vidarbha's farmers?" the activist-cum-politician said.Kejriwal targeted Gadkari accusing him of receiving personal favours by getting around 100 acres of agriculture land in Maharashtra after the Congress-NCP government there bent rules. Utilising a much-hyped press conference here to "expose" Gadkari, the activist-turned-politician alleged that all parties were involved in a cosy relationship of "looting" the country even though they raise issues against each other just for the sake of it.Specifically, Kejriwal alleged a quid pro quo between BJP and Congress-NCP government of Maharashtra, saying Gadkari and his party maintained "silence" over various issues of corruption like the irrigation scam surrounding the Maharashtra government. Aided by lawyer Prashant Bhushan and another IAC activist from Maharashtra Anjali Damania, Kejriwal alleged that rules were bent by the Maharashtra government, particularly scam-tainted former Irrigation Minister Ajit Pawar to benefit Gadkari.He claimed that vast tracts of land were acquired from farmers for building a dam in Umred taluka in Nagpur district and excess land that should have been returned to the farmers was given to Gadkari and his company following Ajit Pawar's intervention. The state government, which had rejected in 2002 the farmers' demand for return of the excess land, took the decision to give it to Gadkari within days of his request in June 2005, Kejriwal alleged.Claiming to have letters signed by Ajit Pawar, he said that the then Irrigation Minister influenced the Vidharbha Industrial Development Corporation even though its secretary objected, saying it could not be done "legally". "There has been a conspiracy. BJP has betrayed the country. People had hoped that BJP will point fingers at the ruling party when it falters. But to increase his business empire, Gadkari has done setting with ruling parties. Gadkari is not a politician. He is not in politics. He is using BJP to increase his business interests. Now the party has also amended its Constitution to give him a second term as president," Kejriwal claimed.But BJP continued to rally behind Gadkari dismissing the charges as 'laughable'. When asked whether Kejriwal's revelations were an embarrassment, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, "I don't see the question at all. This whole thing has come from IAC activists' keenness to draw an equivalence and make a space for themselves and today they include the entire spectrum of India's polity. We have known that. Good luck to them. Let them go for an election campaign. But it was without substance, it was just a kind of hit and run." "Today IAC has made an allegation. That allegation fell flat. We have dealt with it and we will carry on and move on," he added. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
