Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday warned against “concocting” his statements at public programmes without context, saying he will not hesitate to take such persons to the law in the larger interest. In a series of tweets, Gadkari said that efforts were being made to continue the “fabricated campaign” against him for political mileage by “some section of mainstream media, social media and some persons in particular.” (Also Read | Gadkari’s loss is Fadnavis’s gain: State BJP now has an undisputed boss)
He asserted that he has never been disturbed by “such malicious agendas of fringe elements” but he will not “hesitate to take them to the law in the larger interest of our Government, Party and millions of our hardworking Karyakartas.”
Gadkari's statement came after a doctored clip of his address at a book launch went viral on various social media platforms. The video was presented as if the Union minister was talking about his current stint as a minister in the central government. In a video shared by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, Gadkari can be heard saying, “mera gaya to gaya pad mujhe chinta nahi…main rajneetik pesha mein nahi hun, jo hoga so dekha jaayega (I am not worried about my post, I am not in a political profession, I'll see whatever happens).”
{{/usCountry}}Gadkari's statement came after a doctored clip of his address at a book launch went viral on various social media platforms. The video was presented as if the Union minister was talking about his current stint as a minister in the central government. In a video shared by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, Gadkari can be heard saying, “mera gaya to gaya pad mujhe chinta nahi…main rajneetik pesha mein nahi hun, jo hoga so dekha jaayega (I am not worried about my post, I am not in a political profession, I'll see whatever happens).”
{{/usCountry}}The video caption reads, “Is Gadkari leaving BJP?”
However, the BJP leader was sharing an anecdote when he was a Public Works Department (PWD) minister in the Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi-led Maharashtra government around 1996. In the full video of the speech, Gadkari talks about an incident in which hundreds of children died due to malnutrition in a tehsil in Maharashtra's Amravati district. He says Joshi had then flagged that 400 villages in the tehsil didn't have a single road, which made the developmental work in the area difficult.
“Manohar Joshi once told the chief conservator of forest, 'don't you feel anything. 2,500 kids died due to malnutrition, children cannot go to school, the farmers cannot take their crops to the market, no electricity line there…you have halted all (developmental) works based on (environmental laws)',” Gadkari recalled.
The chief conservator, according to Gadkari, said “Sir, I am very sorry...I'm helpless, I cannot do anything.”
“I told (a commissioner),” the Union minister adds, "sir, ye tumhaare bas ka kaam nahi hai. Aise kaam mein main bahot maahir hum. Tum ek kaam karo..ye mere upar chhod do. Mujhe ye chinta nahi kya parinaam hote hain. Aur main ye kaam karunga. Aapko sambhav hua toh mere peeche khade raho, nahi raha toh farq nahi padta. mera gaya to gaya pad mujhe chinta nahi. (Sir, this is out of your scope. I am very expert in such work. You do one thing.. leave it up to me. I don't care what the consequences are. And I will do this. If you can, stand behind me, but it doesn't matter if you don't. I don't care if I lose my position.)
The relevant portion of the reported speech can be heard from 7.25 minutes onwards.