new delhi bjp mp ram jethmalani on wednesday rejected the partys clean chit to nitin gadkari over the alleged dodgy business practices of a group of companies linked to him reinforcing doubts that the party chief already diminished may not be able to limp into a second term after his current tenure ends in december it is a betrayal of the people jethmalani said rejecting the testimonial of innocence that gadkari secured from the party on the basis of the findings of s gurumurthy a chartered accountantturnedhindutva ideologue the sharp response underlined a split between jethmalani and gurumurthy who have been in the forefront of the antiblack money campaign while belying any hope that the chartered accountants alliswell report would put a lid on the festering unease over the disclosures about the accounting practices of the purti group that was floated by gadkari the public rebuff marked a defiance of bjp core committees instruction on tuesday not to wash party linen in public the diktat was in response to the public demand by jethmalani and son mahesh for gadkaris resignation disregarding partys displeasure jethmalani asserted in the course of my fight against corruption which may turn out to be a lone fight i will fight it necessary to call for resignation of many persons holding important political and public offices the statement is appeared to be aimed as much at gadkaris backers as gurumurthy in this respect partys decision has sapped my vitality i wish good luck to gadkari gurumurthy and the members of the core group an agency report quoted jethmalani although jethmalani has never been seen as a hardcore insider he owes his current term in the rajya sabha to gujarat cm narendra modi and party veteran l k advani however the significance of his outburst lies in the fact that it strengthens the fear that the controversy over purtis alleged shadowy sources of funding is going to fester gnawing away at gadkaris authority the disclosures about shell companies appear to have weakened against gadkari after his peers seemed to be getting reconciled if grudgingly to his authority as the party chief who was a nominee of rss a senior party leader who has been sympathetic to the bjp chief conceded that the sight of his doing the rounds of his colleagues to offer his defence did not enhance his stature sources have also spotted signs that gadkari finding himself beleaguered has allowed himself to be persuaded by those peddling the theory that the reports on purti which appeared across the media were part of a huge conspiracy by his zealous colleagues who were determined to torpedo the prospect of his second term speaking on condition of anonymity another gadkari partisan acknowledged that the party chief has succumbed to the easy option of finding ghost and risks getting sucked into factional fights that rss wanted him to damp down by playing a unifier there are serious doubts about his effectiveness as the party chief given that bjp has