New Delhi, Oct. 21 :    New Delhi, Oct. 21:  The BJP has defended Pramod Mahajan against charges of corruption and nepotism, saying they did not amount to 'anything much'. Though the party has not yet taken an official stand, a senior leader said: 'It is a small case of nepotism, but corruption and nepotism are not one and the same thing. There were no kickbacks involved. There was just a payment default and we are sure the money owed will be returned soon because the amount is so small.' A television programme produced and sponsored by Mahajan's son's firm was being telecast on Doordarshan though the producer owed Prasar Bharati over Rs 6.5 crore. The programme, Truck Dhina Dhin, was cleared when Mahajan was the information and broadcasting minister. The ministry agreed to Rahul Mahajan's proposal to defer the payments due to Prasar Bharati, although initially it was agreed Rs 35 lakh would be paid per episode as the minimum guaranteed amount for telecasting Truck Dhina Dhin. The proposal was cleared in 72 hours. The firm in question, Integral Productions, however, denied that the family had any stake in it. Managing director Irfaan Khan said Rahul and his wife, Rekha, resigned on December 7, 1998, three days after Mahajan was sworn in as minister. 'Soon thereafter they transferred all their shares in the company and till today, neither Rahul nor Mrs Mahajan have repurchased a single share,' Khan said in a statement. Maintaining that favouring one's kin was a 'very minor offence when seen in the overall perspective of corruption deals', BJP sources side stepped queries on whether the ministry went out of its way to accommodate a producer like Rahul with no experience. 'It is talent which matters, not experience. If politicians' relatives are talented, why shouldn't they be favoured?' one of them said. The BJP seems upset with Mahajan's successor, Sushma Swaraj, for seeking details on Rahul's programme and his company. Party sources said it was not a 'mere coincidence' that dirt was being kicked up against Mahajan soon after Sushma took over since the two are known not to be on the best of terms. The BJP, which sought to make a fine distinction between 'nepotism' and 'corruption', had in the past gone hammer and tongs at Congress leader Satish Sharma for out-of-turn allotment of petrol stations and gas agencies to relatives and friends when he was petroleum minister. Again in 1996, when Vajpayee appointed his foster son-in-law, Ranjan Bhattacharya, as officer on special duty in his secretariat, the RSS and Advani had taken a serious view of the matter and prevented him from giving Bhattacharya an official status in his second regime.