RSS will not take over BJP: Gadkari

Nitin GadkariNew Delhi, Dec 24 : Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) new chief Nitin Gadkari Thursday said the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the party, was not going to take over the political party.

Gadkari, who himself is a RSS member, denied any interference from the organisation in the BJP's day-to-day activities.

"RSS does not want to takeover the BJP or dictate," Gadkari said while addressing his first press conference at the party's office at Ashoka Road here.

The cracks in the BJP's rank were exposed after the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year when leaders like Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha asked the RSS to take over the party.

"We do not get orders from the RSS and there is no interference from them. Nobody dictates to us. This is a misunderstanding," Gadkari added.

Gadkari, the former chief of the party's Maharashtra unit, has been an active member of the RSS and enjoys the confidence of its chief Mohan Bhagwat.(IANS)