Gadkari gets talking: On food, politics and more

To all those who think 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari is an unfamiliar entity in the ‘blunderland’ of politics, the BJP president wants to say, he is coming to terms with “all issues” that trouble him or his party.

To all those who think 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari is an unfamiliar entity in the ‘blunderland’ of politics, the BJP president wants to say, he is coming to terms with “all issues” that trouble him or his party.

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Revealing the lighter side of his persona, Gadkari, who has held the office for over four months now, told top Hindustan Times editors that “contrary to the impression you have that I am a foodie, I am into dieting and have knocked off 12 kg in the last few months”.

He is also quick to add, “I am not too fond of Delhi food. I don’t like food you get in the five-star hotels. I prefer the ordinary food that the people love, Mumbai-style.”

Answering a volley of questions, he said, “till I became the party chief, I had never stayed in Delhi overnight. I preferred to go back to Mumbai or Nagpur after work was over.” In fact, he hardly had woollens with him when he took charge in December. “I was wearing a half-sweater. Ravi (Shankar Prasad, BJP spokesperson) organised one for me.”

Does he have a problem with his task to rebuild the BJP because he is not familiar to many people? Gadkari’s retort is “my party leaders and cadres know me and my work. They know that I have not lobbied for any job... I was given a task by the
elders and told to accept it.

I have never failed in any task given to me. I believe politics can be an instrument of social and economic change.”

Would he sing a song, as he did at the Indore conclave in February? “I am a bathroom singer... I made the mistake of singing in public, and Anu Malik wanted me to do a number for him...I folded my hands.” Gadkari says he believed in speaking little or not speaking at all. “I have not walked into any trap yet,” he says.

He recalled the beginning of his political life as the ‘poster-boy’. “I white-washed walls because my hand

writing was bad. Someone with better handwriting would write the slogans. Since then, I have travelled a long way. I am willing to do the best to remove misconceptions about the BJP.”