Dismissing allegations of wrong doing by the leaders from the Congress and NCP who joined his party, Union Environment Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar claimed on Saturday that all those leaders who had his party in the recent months had a clean record.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that the BJP had earlier made allegations of corruption against the Congress and NCP who had recently joined BJP, Jawadekar said: “These Congress and NCP leaders quit the two parties as they were upset that their respective parties had moved away from their ideologies. All these leaders who had joined the BJP in the recent months have a clean record”.Addressing a news conference in Pune, Javadekar said: “There is a huge difference between the Congress and us (the BJP). After coming to power, we implement all over schemes and plans. We works round the clock”.

“Because of its dynastic and vote bank, corruption and bankruptcy of ideology, the congress has moved away from the hearts and minds of the people. The NCP has become a party that is restricted to western Maharashtra,” Jawdekar said, as he expressed confidence that the BJP-led grand alliance would win 221 out of the 288 seats in the October 21 elections.

Interestingly enough, Jawdekar said he did not have much of a knowledge about the Aarey colony tree felling controversy and it was possible that some people in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) might have cut the trees. “Our country’s culture is that whenever one tree is felled, five trees are planted in its place. Hence I suggest you plant five trees in place of one felled tree. Every year, we will carry out a census of trees through a satellite survey to ascertain if the place is a forest or not,” he said.