Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari, who is currently campaigning in his constituency at Nagpur, described nationalism as the soul of his party. While blaming the opposition, he also firmly said that issues like national security too can’t be issues of politics.
Though he declined to comment on party patriarch L K Advani’s blog post, he replied in detail to several questions ranging from why the party had to change certain candidates at the last moment to what transpired in Goa, the development agenda of the party and how things are unfolding in his own constituency. Excerpts from an interview with Abhijit Mulye:
How is the campaign going and what’s your assessment?
I couldn’t get much opportunity to travel across the country this time as I’m busy here in my own constituency. But, looking at the feedback I’m getting, the BJP and the NDA will gain more seats than what we could get last time. Our focus on development and efforts in reaching out to all sections in the past five years have resulted in larger social segments coming under the BJP and NDA.
These sections include even those who were not with us and were sceptical when we formed the government in 2014.
From where does this confidence stem?
It comes from the work we have done. Like, here in Nagpur I’ve carried out works worth Rs 70,000 crore over the past five years.
Now, when I go to people, I go to them with a list of works that we have done. The other thing is that we have a clear picture of what we would be doing over the years to come. Like, we brought the best Metro in the country to the city. It’s the greenest Metro. Now I have plans for a broad-gauge Metro.
We have cleared schemes worth Rs 16,000 crore for bridges and flyovers. We have also constructed 350 stadiums in Vidarbha.
A special project of Sports Authority of India (SAI) is coming up in the city which can well develop into the sports capital in the near future.
On the involvement front, Dalits who had befriended the BJP in 2014 appear to be drifting away, especially post Bhima-Koregaon...
That is not the case. Certainly, several efforts are being made like the one you mentioned. But, that has affected only a small section of the Dalit population. Majority of them are still with us. As they wake up to the divisive politics of others, they would be ours again. Muslims too are on board.
Basically, all these things work when you are engaging the caste and religion formula to win elections. In our case, development is the agenda and that doesn’t ask of caste or religion. It benefits all and hence I’m sure all the beneficiaries of the development agenda would be with us.
There is another major section, the farmers. Vidarbha is considered to be the epicentre of farm suicides. What has the government done on this front?
The issue is not of the past five years, but an outcome of faulty policies of the past 60-70 years. We get cotton cheap but textile is expensive; wheat cheap but biscuit expensive; orange cheap but its extract costly.
We will have to change the scenario. Several international factors like the markets too are involved. So, we need to change the crop pattern.
We have taken bold steps to diversify it for the first time. Farmers will now produce fuel from agro-products. We have taken steps that will take ethanol economy to Rs 2 lakh crore in the next five years. On the other hand, we have brought schemes to ensure water security. Under PM Irrigation scheme, we have cleared schemes worth Rs 40,000 crore in Maharashtra alone.
That will complete stalled work on schemes worth Rs 1 lakh crore and boost the irrigated area of the state from 18% to 48%. Similar measures are being taken elsewhere also.
There is talk of rising intolerance in the country...
Look, the government or the party has never supported people who have done anything wrong. To us, whatever is wrong, is wrong. But, the talk of intolerance is by people who are politically motivated. You might recall how people were returning national awards after we came to power. Why didn’t they return awards after the Mumbai terrorist attack? They can’t accept BJP in power.
Things at your party level don’t seem to be going well. A party stalwart like Advani has written against people being branded anti-national...
I’ve nothing to say on what he has said. Advani ji is our senior leader. He had been our guide, philosopher and inspiration. He has always been the same to us. It won’t be right for a person like me to comment on whatever he has written.
The discourse this election appears to be revolving around nationalism and anti-nationalism now...
Nationalism is the soul of BJP. We as a party and as ideology are very committed to it. For us, it is far superior a thing to be dealt as an election issue. When I became party president, I had said, we have three pillars — Nationalism, Good Governance and Antyodaya. From Jana Sangh days, we have always said that the nation is supreme. This is not an issue of politics. The same way, the work of defence forces too shouldn’t be an issue for politics. But, if our opposition parties start talking the language of Pakistan, that is not good for the country.
How do you view the Congress manifesto?
Congress has lost its credibility. From the days of Indira Gandhi, the Congress has only been peddling poverty and they themselves admit that the Congress governments failed to address poverty. That has instilled deep mistrust in the minds of people about it. The manifesto just reinforces that feeling.
You managed the developments in Goa after Manohar Parrikar’s demise. But the party’s image has taken a beating due to the naked politics played out.
To gain power is the prime aim of any political party. There are certain Constitutional obligations to be fulfilled in certain situations and one has to negotiate with likely allies. Political parties also induct people from other parties. There is nothing wrong in that.
NITIN GADKARI
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources,
River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation