Nitin Gadkari apologises to Scindia over highway inauguration fiasco

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had sought a privilege motion against Madhya Pradesh chief minister over the dropping of his name from a plaque and invitations to the inauguration ceremony of a highway in his constituency.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday apologised to Congress leader and Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha after the lawmaker raised the issue of the Madhya Pradesh government dropping his name from a plaque and invitations to the inauguration ceremony of a highway in his constituency.

Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari speaks in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI photo)

Scindia raised the matter during Zero Hour in the lower House. On Wednesday, he sought a privilege motion against Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the matter.

Referring to the government protocol, Scindia said local MPs should be invited to such programmes. “I want to move a privilege motion”, he said on Thursday.

Responding to the Congress MP, the roads and highways minister said he was aware of the matter and it should not have happened. “As I was present there, I should be responsible for this. The MP’s name should have been there. I apologise on behalf of everybody and next time it will not happen,” Gadkari said.

Scindia said the interests of MPs should be protected and action should be taken against people who are responsible for the mistake. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan praised Gadkari for tendering an unconditional apology.

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the issue should not be politicised as a senior minister had already apologised. Bharatiya Janata Party MPs were not invited to such events during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime, he added.