Congress promoting rampant graft: Gadkari

Allahabad/Varanasi, Feb 8 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari has said the Congress party is backing corruption at both the national and state levels.

"This Congress party is a faction full of (Suresh) Kalmadis. It is a party of the corrupt and of commission agents. It is not a party of Gandhi and Nehru. It is a party of the commission agents involved in corruption. This is not Bapu's (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) party. This is the party of Congress ministers who accepted bribes in the Bofors scam," said Gadkari.

Gadkari also lashed out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati over corruption plaguing the state.

"Loot is going on in Delhi, so Lucknow's queen (Mayawati) is saying that 'we are no less, let them loot Delhi and we will loot Lucknow'," Gadkari said.

Gadkari also criticised Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for seeking personal gains from the elections, rather than aiming for the state's development.

"Mulayam Singh ji has only one dream. He is not concerned about upliftment of the backward people or the Muslims, even the development of Uttar Pradesh's village, poor, workers, farmers, is not in his agenda. His life's last wish is to figure out how his son Akhilesh (Yadav) becomes the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh," said Gadkari.

Meanwhile, Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has criticised Mayawati for sponsoring corruption in the state.

"Unlike the Uttar Pradesh Government there is no sponsored corruption going on anywhere else. This government are indulging in corruption, take commission and ask their ministers and officials to pay a particular amount as commission. When the chief (Mayawati) herself and the government are corrupt and sponsoring corruption, then it will definitely be at its peak at the lower levels," Jaiswal said.

The polls in Uttar Pradesh are being viewed as an opportunity for major parties to re-establish their foothold in the country's fifth largest and most populous state.

A new 403-member state assembly will be elected in March. The poll results will broadly indicate trends for the 2014 general elections. (ANI)