BJP defends sage Joshi after Mishra says he met 2G accused

Joshi refuted the charges saying they were an outcome of the 'frustration' Mishra must be experiencing.

Amidst allegations by NRI businessman Anshuman Mishra that PAC chairperson Murli Manohar Joshi met 2G accused Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka while inquiring into the spectrum deal,the Congress on Saturday demanded that he step down even as the BJP dismissed the charges as baseless.

Mishra,who had filed nomination as an Independent for the Rajya Sabha seat from Jharkhand after being assured of support by 18 BJP MLAs but had to withdraw after strong protests from leaders like Yashwant Sinha,told The Sunday Express on Saturday that Balwa and Goenka met Joshi at his 6,Raisina Road residence in the winter of 2010-11 at his instance,but added that there was no discussion relating to 2G or the telecom sector.

I was with him at his residence and told him that they (Balwa and Goenka) are staying at Meridien hotel (right across the road) and he agreed to meet them. So I called them, Mishra said. In the meeting,nothing was discussed about 2G or telecom sector. Joshi gave his vision about India. He spoke about how there is less malnutrition in China, he said.

According to Mishra,Joshi did not seem to know Balwa though he seemed to have met Goenka before and also mentioned that he would like to meet others involved in the 2G case and would be doing so through the office of the PAC. Mishra claimed the meeting took place a month before Balwa and Goenka were arrested.

It was in winter,either late December 2010 or January 2011 as both I and Dr Joshi were soaking the winter sun. And they had joined in. Of course I brought them with Dr Joshis permission. Dr Joshi cannot deny that. I am jogging Dr Joshis memory since he is denying everything, Mishra claimed.

Mishra,who has claimed to have ties with the BJP for over a decade,also said the BJPs decision to support him in Jharkhand was taken by the central leadership including party chief Nitin Gadkari.

In Allahabad,Joshi,however,refuted the charges saying they were an outcome of the frustration Mishra must be experiencing following the denial of Rajya Sabha ticket from Jharkhand. My party has already given a befitting reply to the slander of Anshuman Mishra who has been sulking ever since his hopes of becoming a Rajya Sabha member were dashed. Thereafter,he has been training his guns at one BJP leader after another. His first target was Advani… and now he has chosen me for his diatribe, Joshi was quoted by PTI as saying in Allahabad.

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The BJP here said Mishras allegations were false and baseless and described Joshi as a sage politician who was always crusading against corruption. In this murky political atmosphere while charges and baseless allegations are flying thick and fast,we are sorry to see that a section of media is giving credence to such falsehood as we are seeing in some interviews of Anshuman Mishra, spokesperson Tarun Vijay said.

The Congresss Sanjay Nirupam demanded Joshi should step down from his post. Party spokesperson Manish Tiwari though had a measured response. Without detracting from the moral hazard of investing credibility into heresay,the subtext of the averments made by the former BJP-endorsed Rajya Sabha nominee are serious to say the least. We leave it to the wisdom and conscience of the chairperson of the PAC as to how best to respond to the issues raised in the interest of propriety, he said.