Cong would have repressed Hazare but for BJP: Gadkari

Bharatiya Janta Party President Nitin Gadkari on Friday claimed that the Congress would have dealt with Anna Hazare's fast at Ramlila Maidan the same way it dealt with Baba Ramdev's fast, had the main opposition party not declared support to Hazare.

"If I had not given letter of support to Anna Hazare, he would have faced the same fate as Ramdev," Gadkari said during an interaction at Goa Think Fest 2011 in Panaji.

"The Congress went on saying that BJP did not support Hazare till we gave the letter," Gadkari said, claiming that some Congress leaders had told Team Anna that BJP was not with Hazare. "The Congress's strategy was to finish Anna's agitation."

The BJP was the first political party to support Hazare's fast as it was in the interest of the country, Gadkari said.

Referring to allegations of nexus between Hazare and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he said, "Sangh had said that they are with whoever who is fighting against the corruption." He also said that he did not mind Hazare distancing himself from BJP.

"I am not upset, whether he distances himself or not," he said, adding that the party would stand by any person who acts in the interest of the country.