'Digvijay Singh can't be taken seriously,' says Gadkari in London

ANI

London, July 17 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, who is on a six-day visit to London, on Saturday criticized Congress Party general secretary Digvijay Singh for saying that the involvement of radical Hindu outfits could not be ruled out in the recent serial Mumbai bombings. "I don't want to take him (Digvijay Singh, General Secretary of federal ruling Congress Party) seriously. The best thing is that I don't want to make any comment," said Gadkari. Singh claimed that he had evidence of involvement of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the pro-Hindu radical outfit, in militant activities except the latest serial explosions in Mumbai. Slamming the Congress's comment that India does not have a strong opposition, Gadkari said that his party did not need to give proof of their work to the ruling government rather it was for the people of the country to decide. "We don't want or don't need a certificate from the Congress party. We are the opposition party; our contribution in Indian democracy is to be well understood by the people of India. So, we are fighting on that," he added. Gadkari called the international community to join hands in strengthening the global framework against militancy in the light of the renewed attacks in Mumbai. "It's the need for the world community to unite on the issue and to fight with the terrorist organizations. We should make boycott on the countries those who are sponsoring and supporting terrorism and to take stern actions on the countries those who are supporting terrorist activities and terrorist organizations. That is the need of the world community which I feel," he added. Gadkari slammed the governance capabilities of ruling Congress party saying that the Indian political set up needed constructive thinking and fast track decision making process for speeding up the progress rate. "The wrong policies and wrong economic policies, and bad and corrupt governance are the basic reasons for our problems. If development oriented governance comes in the Indian political setup, then the constructive thinking and fast track decision making process is there, and hence the future of the country can immediately be improved," he added. During his hour-long address, Gadkari outlined the progress made by the BJP ruled states in the development of infrastructure, tourism and other sectors and invited the people of Indian origin to take advantage of the positive investment climate in these states. Also present at the session were BJP leader Smriti Irani, former chief of northwestern India's Rajasthan state Vasundhara Raje, convenor of the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) Vijay Jolly, and president of the OFBJP UK, Surendra Sharma. As per media reports, Gadkari would meet the members of the Indo-British all-party parliamentary group and Indo-European business forum in one of the committee rooms in the House of Commons on Monday (July 18). He would also call on British foreign secretary, William Hague at the foreign office. Gadkari would wrap up his visit on July 21 with a visit to the Lords stadium to watch India play their first cricket Test match against England. (ANI)