From a cadre who used to put up posters for BJP to becoming its poster-boy, Nitin Gadkari has seen it all. The first BJP president from the second-generation leadership, Gadkari is seen as a progressive figure in the party. His claim to fame has been several developmental projects in Maharashtra that he carried out during his stint as minister for public works in the state. In this tell-all interview with Anil Pandey, Gadkari talks about keeping the house together and reaching out to minorities.
First thing first, what is your roadmap for the future of BJP?
My priority is to strengthen the organisation and increase its support base by at least 10 per cent. The plan is to reach out to all sections of the society and bring them into the party’s fold. Dalits, tribals, labourers from unorganised sectors and minorities, especially Muslims, who have been rendered paranoid by the Congress, are on our radar. For this, we’ll start a constructive programme of large scale and magnitude. Setting aside votebank politics, this programme will work for the downtrodden. It will lead to their social and economic development. This will not only lead to production of essential goods and services but also add to the country’s GDP. I have been doing this kind of thing in Nagpur and other parts of Maharashtra. In Nagpur, we have adopted as many as 500 poor orphans who are getting good education and upbringing. These children will shape the future of this country in due course. Similarly, in villages, we are working in tandem with farmers to produce bio-diesel. Apart from producing electricity from chaffs and other bio-wastes, we have also set up several small scale industries that deal with dairy and agro-processing. I have been doing such experiments in the past. I want to implement it here too. I am not concerned about victory. I just want to do my work.
You maintain that BJP wants to reach out to all sections of the society. However, minorities, mainly a large section of the Muslims, have concerns about your party.
This is propaganda by our opposition to malign our image. It should be pondered upon that even after 57 years of rule by the Congress, Muslim boys are mainly engaged in menial jobs. Not many IAS, IPS officers or doctors or engineers can be found. They need education that is good and can get them good jobs. In fact, in the states where BJP and its alliance-partners are in power, there has been tremendous improvement in the financial and educational conditions of Muslims. When Narendra Modi brought prosperity and unprecedented growth to Gujarat, hasn’t it helped Muslims too? Increase in job opportunity also means increased opportunity for the Muslims. Muslims in UP are the most backward. The state has been ruled by the Congress and so-called secular parties for years. The vote bank politics practised by Congress has led to exploitation of Muslims. It is a misconception that BJP is against Muslims.
First thing first, what is your roadmap for the future of BJP?
My priority is to strengthen the organisation and increase its support base by at least 10 per cent. The plan is to reach out to all sections of the society and bring them into the party’s fold. Dalits, tribals, labourers from unorganised sectors and minorities, especially Muslims, who have been rendered paranoid by the Congress, are on our radar. For this, we’ll start a constructive programme of large scale and magnitude. Setting aside votebank politics, this programme will work for the downtrodden. It will lead to their social and economic development. This will not only lead to production of essential goods and services but also add to the country’s GDP. I have been doing this kind of thing in Nagpur and other parts of Maharashtra. In Nagpur, we have adopted as many as 500 poor orphans who are getting good education and upbringing. These children will shape the future of this country in due course. Similarly, in villages, we are working in tandem with farmers to produce bio-diesel. Apart from producing electricity from chaffs and other bio-wastes, we have also set up several small scale industries that deal with dairy and agro-processing. I have been doing such experiments in the past. I want to implement it here too. I am not concerned about victory. I just want to do my work.
You maintain that BJP wants to reach out to all sections of the society. However, minorities, mainly a large section of the Muslims, have concerns about your party.
This is propaganda by our opposition to malign our image. It should be pondered upon that even after 57 years of rule by the Congress, Muslim boys are mainly engaged in menial jobs. Not many IAS, IPS officers or doctors or engineers can be found. They need education that is good and can get them good jobs. In fact, in the states where BJP and its alliance-partners are in power, there has been tremendous improvement in the financial and educational conditions of Muslims. When Narendra Modi brought prosperity and unprecedented growth to Gujarat, hasn’t it helped Muslims too? Increase in job opportunity also means increased opportunity for the Muslims. Muslims in UP are the most backward. The state has been ruled by the Congress and so-called secular parties for years. The vote bank politics practised by Congress has led to exploitation of Muslims. It is a misconception that BJP is against Muslims.
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