Nitin Gadkari hits out at Anshuman Mishra

Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Sunday hit out at NRI business Anshuman Mishra terming his allegations against party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi and some other leaders as "baseless" and an "expression of frustration" over his failure to make it to the Raja Sabha.

"Anshuman Mishra's motivated and selective tirade against some of the top BJP leaders is nothing but an expression of frustration over his failure to make it to the Raja Sabha with the support of BJP MLAs from Jharkhand," Gadkari, who is believed to have backed Mishra's nomination which he had to withdraw following protest from certain BJP leaders, said in a statement.

Dismissing Mishra's allegations as "baseless and misleading", he also urged the party rank and file to ignore this "deliberate" attempt to create confusion by spreading "falsehood".

The BJP president also appealed to media not to take cognisance of Mishra's "unsubstantiated and wild" remarks against senior BJP leaders and said that all of them have a "proven track record of probity in public life" and have always enjoyed an "unblemished reputation".

Mishra, who was supported by a section of the BJP as an independent nominee for Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand, had to withdraw at the last moment following a directive from the BJP central leadership to its MLAs not to vote for him.

On Saturday, he claimed to have introduced PAC Chairman Joshi to senior executives of 2G scam accused companies when the panel was probing the 2G spectrum case, a charge rubbished by the BJP veteran.

Mishra had also said that Joshi called him seeking funds for elections. Mishra claimed to have played a role in Joshi's poll campaign in 2004 and 2009.

Joshi had, however, maintained that Mishra's allegations were "fabricated" and whatever he was saying with regard to him is absolutely wrong and a "concoction".

The senior BJP leader had also asserted he had "strongly opposed" giving a Rajya Sabha ticket to Mishra when his opinion was sought.