New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has been interestingly vocal since December, puzzling political observers with a change in tone ahead of general elections.
It all started in the aftermath of losses suffered by the BJP in Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, states that had contributed to the saffron party’s brute majority in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Barely a week after the loss, Gadkari at a media conclave said, “Some people in the BJP need to speak less." He seemingly blamed uncensored statements and speeches by party leaders for the defeat.
Gadkari’s second googly came in late December when he praised India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, differing with several party leaders, particularly PM Narendra Modi, who have been critical of Nehru in their speeches.
“I liked Nehru’s sayings. India is not a nation but a population,” Gadkari said at the annual Intelligence Bureau (IB) endowment lecture. He also reiterated Nehru’s belief that “half the problems would be solved if each individual decided not to create them and would not consider themselves as burden to the country”.
His next missive came at an event organised by the Pune District Urban Cooperative Banks Association Limited (PDUCBAL), where Gadkari said that “leadership must own up to defeat also”. Seen in the context of the BJP’s electoral slump, the statement was construed to have been aimed at the party leadership. The Union Minister, however, was quick to claim that his comment had been misunderstood.
This, however, did not stop the former BJP chief from making another comment and leaving it to interpretation. In the first week of 2019, he applauded former prime minister Indira Gandhi, whose polices, like that of Nehru, have been regularly criticised in the speeches by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
“Indira Gandhi proved herself without quota,” Gadkari said during the inauguration of an exhibition by women self-help groups (SHGs) in Nagpur.
Gadkari further said that a person should excel on the basis of knowledge and “not because of language, caste or religion”.
His latest remark came on February 2 when he was addressing former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, in Nagpur.
“One who can’t take care of home, can’t manage country,” Gadkari said, while asking his audience to devote more time to family and household matters.
Although Gadkari has claimed his statements are being distorted by the media, they have led credence to speculation that the Union minister is keen to throw his hat in the ring for prime ministership.
Gadkari had sent shockwaves across the NDA in 2010 as well when he had publicly referred to the differences within the BJP after the second straight loss in 2009 general elections.
Speaking at the party’s National Executive in Indore in February 2010, he had said, “The problems in the party are not because of small workers but because of those whom it has given much. They will have to think whether their political career is important or political ideology and spread of the party.”
Fuelling the buzz is the perception of Gadkari being the RSS’ blue-eyed boy. However, playing down his latest statements, an RSS leader said, “The buzz about him being a blue-eyed boy in comparison to Narendra Modi is rubbish. He has his own opinions.”
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