Gadkari slams Sonia, asks her to focus on nation's upliftment

New Delhi, June 4 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari on Monday hit back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for levelling charges against the opposition and civil society activists, and advised her to look beyond politics in the larger interest of the nation.

Gadkari further asked Gandhi to clarify whether the Congress Party felt that yoga guru Baba Ramdev's demand for bringing back black money stashed away abroad is anti-national.

Jointly addressing the media with Baba Ramdev here, Gadkari said: "The accusations made by Sonia Gandhi on the opposition, Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare are completely baseless. Is it wrong for anyone to demand the procurement of black money? Is it a crime? I feel that she should not do something like this; she should look beyond politics and focus on saving this country."

"She (Sonia Gandhi) should work towards freeing the country from inflation and unemployment and it is essential to bring back black money to improve the economic condition of the country. She should support the movement. I am very sad and it is extremely unfortunate that she has made such accusations and viewed this situation from a political angle," Gadkari added.

He further said that it is necessary to bring back Indian black money for the poor, the farmers and the labourers as well as to deal with inflation and for dealing with economic problems.

"No politics should be brought into this. And Sonia Gandhi should cooperate in further building the environment to fight corruption", he added.

Gandhi, who is also the UPA chairperson, had launched a scathing attack on the opposition and civil society activists, stating that they were levelling baseless allegations against the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and termed it as a 'conspiracy' to malign their image.

On Sunday, under the banner of India Against Corruption (IAC), Baba Ramdev along with social activist Anna Hazare undertook a day long fast against graft and nepotism in public life as well as black money.

Baba Ramdev has been at loggerheads with the government over a range of national issues for the past many months.

The outspoken yoga guru had also called on the government last year to pursue billions of dollars in illegal funds abroad and the withdrawal of high denomination bank notes. (ANI)