Nagpur: Former member of Parliament, Datta Meghe, who has now joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rubbished reports that Union minister Nitin Gadkari had been sidelined in the state unit of the BJP. Mr Gadkari was conspicuous by his abse-nce when the BJP finali-sed its alliance with the Shiv Sena.
However, Mr Meghe said that Mr Gadkari was busy with other work related to his ministry, which is why he was not present when the alliance was announced. Now with the electoral alliance, the BJP and Sena should refrain from criticising each other in the public domain, he said.
“Mr Gadkari’s stature can't be denied and though technically, he was not present when the alliance was announced, he is very much part of the show,” Mr Meghe, a veteran in politics told The Asian Age.
“He has now spoken about averting the river water from going to Pakistan as a consequence of the killing of 44 CRPF jawans in Pulwama last week. This could be the reason as he was preparing for this move of the central government,” Mr Meghe said.
Mr Gadkari also made it clear that he is not in the race for the Prime Ministership. Mr Meghe, who is close to Mr Gadkari, said that the Union minister’s friends, both in politics and outside, should not put him in an awkward position by making statements about his chances of becoming PM and should instead keep him away from such controversies.
Welcoming the BJP-Sena pre-poll alliance after so much of mudslinging by either party, Mr Meghe, who has spent two decades in Parliament and 15 years in the state Assembly, said that both parties must now exercise restraint in pointing fingers at each other in public.
“Everyone knows that from the brink of collapse of the saffron alliance, both parties gave a fresh lease of life to the electoral alliance which should continue now. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should be complemented for his political wisdom and initiative in giving shape to new adjustments. Both parties will now benefit from the alliance. The division of votes has come to a halt, it seems,” Mr Meghe said.
