Nitin Gadkari says he was offered support for the prime minister’s post but turned it down
Democracy can succeed only when all four pillars – judiciary, executive, legislature and media – adopt ethics, Gadkari added. (Photo: PTI)
Minister Nitin Gadkari said that a political leader had once offered to support him if he contested the prime ministerial race, but he turned down the offer as he had no such ambition.
The senior BJP leader was speaking at a journalism awards ceremony in Maharashtra’s Nagpur city on Saturday.
“I remember an incident – I don’t want to mention names – where someone said, ‘If you want to become prime minister, we will support you,’” Gadkari said, without specifying when the conversation took place.
“But I asked why you should support me, and why I should accept your support? Becoming Prime Minister is not my goal in life. I am loyal to my beliefs and my organization, and I will not compromise on any position because my beliefs are paramount to me,” he said.
In his speech, the minister stressed the importance of ethics in both journalism and politics.
Gadkari recounted a meeting with a senior CPI functionary in which he had told the communist leader that the late AB Bardhan was one of the tallest politicians of Nagpur and Vidarbha.
When the leader expressed surprise that Bardhan is an opponent of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Gadkari said honest opposition should be respected.
“I said you should respect a person who resists honestly because there is honesty in his resistance…a person who resists dishonestly does not deserve respect,” the BJP leader said.
Comrade Bardhan was true to his ideology and both politics and journalism no longer have such people, he said.
Democracy can only be successful if all four pillars – the judiciary, the executive, the legislature and the media – are ethical, Gadkari added.
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First publication: Sep 15, 2024 | 08:40 AM IST