IT probe to create confusion during BJP presidential election: Gadkari

Condemning the Income Tax department’s announcement of a probe into companies that funded the Purti group, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today said the decision was politically motivated to create confusion among the BJP’s ranks ahead of the party’s presidential poll tomorrow. In a statement issued today, Gadkari said that the Income Tax department’s actions were being performed at the “behest of its political masters sitting in New Delhi who have hatched a political conspiracy to tarnish his image.” [caption id=“attachment_598122” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gadkari has accused the government of targeting him. PTI[/caption] “Coming as it does on the eve of election of BJP President, the IT department’s action smacks of the ruling UPA’s nefarious designs to create confusion in the BJP ranks,” Gadkari said in the statement. The BJP President said he had volunteered to co-operate in all the investigations being carried out into the functioning of the Purti group and said his record in public life is “unblemished”. Gadkari said he would never hesitate to quit his post if held guilty on any charge or charges by a court of law. The BJP president’s statement comes on the day the Income Tax department carried out investigations at nine locations to investigate allegations that shell companies had been used to fund the Purti group of companies. The shell companies are accused of indulging in money laundering to fund the conglomerate which was headed by Gadkari.