Nobody needs to quit: Jaitley

NEW DELHI : The government will brazen out demands for action against senior BJP leaders, including union minister Uma Bharti and Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh, following the Supreme Court order.

BJP patriarchs LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, also covered by the order, are seen as potential candidates for the president’s post.

But finance minister Arun Jaitley claimed a chargsheet against ministers is not a ground for them to resign. “If charge sheets were a rule, just calculate how many Congress chief ministers (and there are very few left) would have to go,” he said.

The Babri case was going on since 1993 and no new situation has arisen after the Wednesday order, “so the situation that was prevailing will continue,” he said.

When news about the SC order came, senior BJP leaders such as home minister Rajnath Singh, Jaitley, transport minister Nitin Gadkari and party president Amit Shah went into a huddle at the prime minister’s office.

Apparently rules say that if one of the accused enjoys any sort of immunity, the others cannot also be tried. In this case, Kalyan Singh has that immunity so long as he is governor.

Asked about Advani’s chance of becoming president getting affected, Jaitley merely said, “This is a hypothetical question.”