New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Friday asked party leaders to raise any complaints about his choice of a new team with him and not with the media.
“Those who have complaints about the new team should speak to me, not the media,” Gadkari told the NDTV news channel, a day after actor-turned-party MP Shatrughan Sinha’s remarks on the composition of the new team of office-bearers announced Tuesday.

Sinha Thursday recited the lyrics of an old Hindi film song in answer to a question about the new team. “Uff na karenge, lab see lenge, aansu pee lenge (I will not sigh, will seal my lips and swallow my tears),” he said, expressing disappointment that leaders like Yashwant Sinha had been left out and the team had not been able to give a message of dynamism.

“It’s wrong to say that Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie were excluded because they are Advani detractors… It’s not possible to include everyone on the team,” Gadkari said.

The BJP president also justified the appointment of Nehru-Gandhi family member Varun Gandhi as party secretary, saying: “Varun Gandhi should be given a chance, why hold the past against him?”

The party had sought to distance itself from Varun Gandhi after he allegedly made inflammatory remarks during the Lok Sabha election campaign last year.