'Quite a few ministers' support me: Shanta Kumar

Notwithstanding the party's rebuke, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Shanta Kumar on Wednesday said he had support of "quite a few ministers" on the issues raised by him, and asserted that the party's image had suffered due to corruption charges allegedly involving some of its leaders.

The former Himachal Pradesh chief minister also rued the lack of dialogue within the party at present and said it was not enough to be the world's largest political party but also to be the best party, in a veiled dig at BJP's claim of being the biggest outfit globally. "I am neither isolated within the party nor in public. Quite a few ministers and other party leaders have called me to express their support with my views over the issues raised by me," Kumar said.

In an embarrassment to government and BJP over their claims that its ministers and chief ministers have done nothing illegal and immoral, the 80-year-old former union minister had said in a letter to party chief Amit Shah that fingers from "Rajasthan to Maharashtra are being pointed at us" while the Vyapam scam has "made all of us bow our heads in shame".

Asserting the image of the party had taken a beating over controversies involving Cabinet Minister Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje, he said the party leader must make efforts to stop "further devaluation" of its values. Despite the BJP top brass solidly defending its embattled leaders, Kumar insisted the party must seriously look into the issues raised by him and take remedial steps so that "no further harm is done" to it.