It was anti-national what Congress did in Ishrat Jahan case: Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that whatever happened during UPA rule in connection with the Ishrat Jahan encounter case was anti-national.

"It was anti-national what Congress did in the Ishrat Jahan case, in particular, P Chidambaram. It's clear from the facts that have come to light that they in a way helped terrorists and terrorist organizations," Gadkari told ANI here.

"When I was president of BJP, Ishrat Jahan case happened. The Gujarat government, the police officer, Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi never had any relation with the case It was the input from the IB that she was a LeT terrorist. Headley also said that she was associated with anti-national activities," he added.

Gadkari further said that the then home secretary (N. Gopalaswami) was on holiday when the affidavit was changed.

Amid the furore over former under secretary R.V.S. Mani's revelations that he was physically harassed during interrogation and was forced to sign the second affidavit, Congress president Sonia Gandhi told her party MPs that former home minister P. Chidambaram has already explained his position. She also claimed that the Congress party has been targeted since it has been in government.

"Chidambaram ji has already explained. We have been targeted since we were in government," Gandhi said at a Congress' strategy meeting here.

In a revelation that has the potential to spark a fresh political row and disrupt the functioning of the Parliament, Mani yesterday claimed that he did not draft the second affidavit and had been ordered to sign the file in the Ishrat Jahan case.

His claims came days after former home secretary G.K. Pillai alleged that Chidambaram bypassed him and rewrote the second affidavit submitted to a court in this connection.

Last week, Pillai had said that the affidavit in Ishrat case was changed at the political level.

Chidambaram earlier on Monday said the revised affidavit was absolutely correct, adding he accepts full responsibility for the affidavit as a minister.

Citing intelligence reports, Chidambaram had as the home minister submitted an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court in August 2009, which referred to Ishrat's alleged links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

However, a revised affidavit was filed within a month in which all references to Ishrat's alleged terror links were missing.