The Week India - July 29, 2018

SPECIAL REPORT

NITIN GADKARI

investigation as the most painful

point in his life, when he almost quit

politics and returned to agriculture.

Th e RSS and the BJP have not just

stood by him then and thereafter, but

the relationship between him and

Nagpur has only got closer.

More recently, Congress leader

Jairam Ramesh alleged that a compa-

ny fl oated by Gadkari’s private sec-

retary, Vaibhav Dange, had received

funds from his ministries. But, not a

single charge stuck.

Because of his nature, Gadkari has

friends across the political divide.

And, he bonds with them over food.

A longtime staff er recalls how, once,

What is your mission statement?

Main to chala jidhar chale rasta, mu-

jhe kya pata kahan meri manzil (I go

wherever the roads lead me, I don’t

know where my destination is). Th at

is how my story is.

In my life, I have got a lot from my

party, my ideology. As party pres-

ident, I used to hold three things

dear—nationalism, good governance

and development, antyodaya (uplift

of the weakest section). Whatever

best in these areas I can deliver to the

country, I must. Th at is my mission.

Who is your inspiration?

20 THE WEEK • JULY 29, 2018

■INTERVIEW

Nitin Gadkari

Union minister

I felt I should leave

politics after the

Purti Group incident

former Congress legislator Narayan

Rane invited Gadkari and anoth-

er MLA to share the lunch he had

brought from home. Gadkari had a

third helping of a dish, and said it

was not from Rane’s home, but from

a small eatery, Prakash Uphar Grah,

in Dadar. To prove his point, he took

them there. And, he was right.

Gadkari does not overrate his role

as a politician. He is the founder of

three of the fi ve entities that are part

of Purti Group, he was chairman

of two, promoter of two, director

of one and board member of one.

In his member’s profi le in the 16th

Lok Sabha, he identifi es himself as

an agriculturist by profession. He

also has a special interest in green

technology.

In 2010, the BJP’s fi rst national ex-

ecutive meeting under his presiden-

cy was held in Nagpur. Th e highlight

was the exhibition of the agriculture

produce and green technology his

Purti Group was involved in. It was

lavishly laid out, and Gadkari, along

with others, sang Hindi fi lm songs

late into the night. Smile on face and

mic in hand, he sang “Zindagi kaisi

hai paheli hai re...” from the Rajesh

Khanna-starrer Anand.

For Gadkari, that paheli (puzzle)

called life can throw up many roles.

BY VIJAYA PUSHKARNA

My mother, Bhanutai Gadkari, was

a big social worker and ran a school

for the poor. She used to work for the

Jana Sangh. I am from a family relat-

ed to a king, but our circumstances

deteriorated. Still, feeding the poor

and helping them was her nature.

I consider [Atal Bihari] Vajpayeeji

and George Fernandes my icons. Th e

RSS and the Vidyarthi Parishad are

my inspiration. I have seen many big

people do service to the nation. 

How do you view politics?

I believe that politics is an instru-

ment of socioeconomic transfor-

mation. So, I work just for that. I do

not have much of a political swab-

hav (political nature). I have never

indulged in chhal kapat (wheel-

ing dealing), gutbazi (factional-

ism), makkhan nahin lagaya (was

never a sycophant) and I did not take

my biodata to anyone. I have not

changed the way I dress, I have not

changed my nature. If people do not

like me the way I am, let them not.

What is the BJP doing to win the

trust of the dalits and Muslims?

It is a case of image versus reality,

and ground reality versus percep-

tion. Th e BJP is not anti-Muslim or

anti-dalit. Projecting us that way is

the agenda of our rivals, for vote-bank

politics. We do not do caste politics.

Dalit, peedit (oppressed) and the poor

are for whom we want antyodaya.

One crore people ply cycle-rick-

shaws. I decided that this inhuman