The saffron camp was caught unawares on Tuesday when the income-tax department raided BJP national council member and CWG contractor Sudhanshu Mittal’s premises on a day when party president Nitin Gadkari threatened to “expose” the UPA government’s alleged involvement in controversies related to the Games.

There were whispers in saffron corridors that it was Mr Mittal who had provided “some of the so-called classified information” to the BJP leadership. While top party leaders strongly refuted such charges, a section of the party claimed that Mr Mittal had given the information to the leadership through BJP general secretary Vijay Goel and party secretary Kirit Somaiya.
When asked about the raids at Mr Mittal’s offices and residence, Mr Gadkari said “action should be taken against all those involved.” When contacted, Mr Somaiya denied taking Mr Mittal’s help and claimed that “yeh sab hum sabne milkar kiya hain (we all have worked to get these details).”
Sources said there was also some concern in saffron circles as two more names, Harish Sharma and Vivek Nagpal, both close associates of Mr Mittal, were now surfacing in the CWG controversy. Mr Sharma used to be OSD to Pramod Mahajan when the late BJP leader was a Union minister. Mahajan was shot dead by his brother in 2006. Sources said a probe was on to establish if Mr Sharma or Mr Nagpal were involved. It may be recalled that Mr Nagpal’s name had cropped up after the CVC investigated 16 different cases of alleged financial irregularities in Games-related projects. Mr Nagpal, however, later clarified that he was not a member of the organising committee but that he had been nominated and had withdrawn his nomination following differences. Mr Nagpal is also reportedly “close to a section of officials in the UPA government,” sources claimed.
Addressing a press conference, Mr Gadkari tried to put the blame for the CWG mess on the Prime Minister’s Office and sought to know why the government “did not verify before approving the inflated budget.” He also demanded a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into the CWG scam. He claimed that “concrete evidence” collected by the BJP would be submitted to such a JPC. Mr Gadkari said his party’s demand for a JPC would be raised at the coming Winter Session of Parliament.
The BJP president also questioned the role of several ministries, including urban development, sports, home, finance, tourism, civil aviation and information and broadcasting. Mr Gadkari wanted the CBI to complete its investigation within three months and submit its report. He also went on to allege that some “benami financial deals had taken place through the Mauritius route.” The BJP chief said that of the `70,000 crores spent on the Games, only `350 crores had been spent on Indian sportspersons. Saying that “public money had been looted,” Mr Gadkari said the party “has the names of those involved, and will provide information to the JPC if needed.” The BJP chief added that the Shunglu Committee appointed by the Prime Minister to investigate corruption charges in CWG preparations was simply an “eyewash”.
The party also distributed brochures which talked of “how the Games became a national embarrassment”. Mr Gadkari exhorted people to “come to the BJP if they have anything on the CWG scam”.
The Congress, meanwhile, hit back at the BJP president, saying that Mr Gadkari was afraid as his party members were “getting caught” and he was therefore trying to “divert the attention”. Said AICC spokesman Manish Tewari: “The personality of the BJP president is that of a spoilt brat who is prepared to go to any extent to focus attention on himself.”