Will contest against Gadkari if no one else does: Mahesh Jethmalani

Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari seems set to get a second consecutive term, but he may not get to the post without a contest. Lawyer and BJP leader Mahesh Jethmalani today threatened to contest for the post if Gadkari was allowed to become party president again without any contest. “I am in favour of a contest against Mr Gadkari as BJP president. If no one within the party is willing to contest against him, I will contest,” he told CNN-IBN. [caption id=“attachment_596122” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  BJP leader Mahesh Jethmalani. Screen grab/ibnlive[/caption] Jethmalani belongs to a group of leaders, that includes his father Ram, within the BJP who are opposed to the nomination of Gadkari as the party president again. Mahesh Jethmalani had, in fact, quit the BJP National Executive in protest against Gadkari, after allegations of corruption in the functioning of the Purti group. Meanwhile, a leader of the RSS, Suresh Soni, is also said to be opposed to Gadkari’s candidature and will be holding talks with party veteran LK Advani in the capital. Meanwhile, senior leader LK Advani, who had reservations in Gadkari getting another term, has finally agreed to it as no consensus could be arrived at on any other candidate, party sources said on Sunday. Till last week, there was an exercise between Advani’s camp and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) to arrive at a consensus candidate. Advani’s reservation about Gadkari getting a second term was due to charges of dubious funding of Purti Group with which he was associated. Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj’s name had also figured in the discussion, but she herself has not shown much keenness on occupying the post. Nomination papers for the top post will be filed on 23 January from 10 am to 11.30 am and scrutiny will be held from 11.30 am to 12 noon. A date for election will be declared if required after the withdrawal of nomination between 12 to 12.30 pm, a BJP statement said. In the absence of any contest, the elected candidate will be declared at 12.30 pm on 23 January.