Jethmalanis have no relevance in BJP: Uma Bharti

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Saturday came to the defence of beleaguered party president Nitin Gadkari, who is facing pressure from sections of the organisation to step down, and insisted that people like Ram Jethmalani have no say in decision-making within the party.

"I have been watching for the past four-five days that the father-son duo of Ram and Mahesh Jethmalani has become the guardians of morality. They cannot even enter the place where decisions are taken on who should be president and who should resign," Bharti said.

Ram and Mahesh Jethmalani had demanded that Gadkari should immediately step down as BJP president in the wake of corruption allegations leveled against him by various media reports.

"Ram Jethmalani has no relevance in deciding who should be president and who should not be. People would have come to know that Ram and Mahesh Jethmalani are in BJP only now as they are irrelevant and have no role or relevance in decision-making," Bharti said.

Her support to Gadkari comes on a day when BJP national executive member Jagadish Shettigar also demanded that Gadkari should follow the example of party veteran L K Advani (who had relinquished his post when he was charged with involvement in the hawala case) and resign from the post of president.