Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) heavyweight leader and union leader Nitin Gadkari’s recent statement has surprised his supporters as well as political
opponents in the state.
On Sunday, Mr Gadkari said, “The poor people had to face a hard time when demonetisation happened. But when I ask them, even after all these issues, why are you happy? They say that this is because even the rich people are facing a tough time.”
Ranging from ‘the poor faced serious problems during demonetisation’ to calling the state’s urban development ministry ‘bhukkad’ (useless) and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s win in 2014 a result of a ‘just a wave’, his words have caused a flurry of talks about his mood. Recently, in a government function in Pune, Mr Gadkari slammed the urban development ministry’s style of functioning.
Interestingly, the ministry in question is directly handled by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Mr Gadkari had then said, “State’s urban development ministry is worthless. If you want to a development plan for Pune, hire a private agency. The ministry walks at a snail’s pace.”
Before that, in a programme at Aurangabad, Mr Gadkari had passed a comment on the part’s 2014 victory. “Pawar raised his team from scratch and that’s why he is still there despite so many storms. Look at our party. If the wind blows in the right direction, we get power. Otherwise, nothing happens,” Mr Gadkari had said.
The statements seem to be giving out mixed signals. Mr Gadkari, a strong leader with a powerful base of supporters, criticising his own government’s decision is an important political move. The question of whether Mr Gadkari is signalling his discomfort publicly is currently doing rounds in the political circle.
However, his close aide and MLC Girish Vyas denied the talks. “Mr Gadkari is known for speaking his mind. He never thinks of petty politics. His statements are about issues and not about persons.
He could speak in such a way because he has a vision. Seeing politics in his statements is wrong and would be an injustice to him,” said Mr Vyas.
