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‘If BJP commits same mistakes (as Congress) then…’: Nitin Gadkari's word of caution
Nitin Gadkari said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been a party with a difference and that is why it has repeatedly won the trust of voters.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been a party with a difference and that is why it has repeatedly won the trust of voters. He, however, cautioned against the BJP repeating mistakes committed by the Congress in the past which saw its exit from power.
"If we continue doing what the Congress used to do, then there is no use of their exit and our entry," news agency PTI quoted Nitin Gadkari as saying on Friday, more than a month after the the saffron party failed to achieve a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a Goa BJP executive meeting near Panaji that was attended by party's state unit president Sadanand Tanavade and chief minister Pramod Sawant, among other leaders, Nitin Gadkari – in his 40-minute-long speech – recalled his mentor and former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani's statement that the “BJP is a party with a difference”, PTI reported.
"Advaniji used to say that we are a party with a difference. We have to understand how different we are from other parties," the Union minister and the former BJP president said at the event.
The BJP Nagpur MP said people have elected the party because of the Congress's mistakes and cautioned against his party committing the same errors.
"If we commit the same mistakes, then there is no use in their exit and our entry," said Gadkari adding that “that is why, in the days to come, party cadres should know that politics is an instrument of bringing social and economic reforms”.
Gadkari also stressed, “We (BJP) have to create a corruption-free country and for that we should have a plan in place.”
Avoid playing politics on caste lines: Gadkari
Referring to Maharashtra, the senior BJP leader said in the state there is a trend of playing politics on caste lines (jativadi rajkaran). "I have decided not to follow this trend. I have told people that I will not indulge in caste-based politics (jaat-paat). Jo karega jaat ki baat, usko padegi kaske laath (the one who will speak about caste will get a strong kick)," Gadkari warned. Gadkari said a person is known by values he possesses and not his caste.
Mahayuti's big win in Maharashtra MLC polls
Gadkari's statement comes on the day the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra—comprising chief minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, the NCP of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and the BJP—recovered from a disappointing general election by securing a significant victory in the MLC polls.
The BJP fielded five candidates, including Pankaja Munde, daughter of the late senior leader Gopinath Munde, and all five won. The Shinde Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP each nominated two candidates, and all four were victorious.
In a message directed at Goa BJP cadres, Gadkari urged them to visit every constituency and strengthen the organisation so that the party is able to retain power after the 2027 assembly elections.
