'Nitin Gadkari is right man in wrong party': Congress springs surprise as NDA govt turns 7

On the 7th anniversary of the Modi government, senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan set the rumour mills abuzz with his effusive praise of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Addressing a press briefing on Sunday, the ex-Maharashtra CM and PWD Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government lashed out at the Centre for its purported inept handling of the COVID-19 crisis and rising unemployment. At the same time, he asserted that Gadkari is the right man in the "wrong party". 

He was responding to a question on a Minister that he appreciates in the Union government. Elaborating further, Chavan lauded the fact that the Nagpur MP believed in a dialogue with everyone irrespective of party lines including opposition-ruled states. Moreover, he claimed that Gadkari is not being allowed to work effectively. So far, neither Gadkari nor BJP have officially responded to the Congress leader. 

Maharashtra PWD Minister Ashok Chavan remarked, "I had congratulated Nitin Gadkari the day before yesterday. His party and our party have ideological differences. But Nitin Gadkari has a dialogue with all states including Maharashtra. I had written an article in many newspapers lauding him for his positive approach towards strengthening the basic facilities in Maharashtra and had thanked him on Twitter as well." 

"This does not imply that I support him politically. Because it is clear that he is in NDA and NDA's performance in India is minus. So, Gadkari is the right man in the wrong party. I have to say this as he is facing restraints there. He is not being allowed to work and his authority is being eroded," the Congress leader added. 

Nitin Gadkari's cryptic comments

A former MLC who served as the PWD Minister in the first BJP-Shiv Sena government in 1995, Gadkari also functioned as the BJP national president from 2009 to 2013. While he stepped down after his name surfaced in the alleged Purti scam, the BJP leader joined the Narendra Modi-led Cabinet in 2014 handling the portfolios of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping after he won his first-ever Lok Sabha election from Nagpur. His cryptic comments aimed at the BJP top brass generated buzz in the run-up to the 2019 General Election.

For instance, he asked the party leadership to own up failures post the 2018 Assembly election defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Seen chatting with the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi at the Republic Day function in 2019, he also warned that political leaders who cannot deliver on promises will receive a setback from people. Speculation was also rife that Gadkari might be the consensus candidate for the PM's post in the scenario that NDA fails to get a majority. However, Modi came back to power with an even bigger majority with BJP alone winning 303 seats.

The Nagpur MP retained his place in the Cabinet after winning his seat again and is currently in charge of MSME as well as Road Transport and Highways. On May 18, Gadkari again created flutters in the BJP camp after he admitted that there is a shortage of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the country. Furthermore, he called for licensing of vaccines so that production can be ramped up amid the rising demand for inoculation. In a U-turn a few hours later, the Union Minister claimed that he was unaware of the fact that the Centre is already facilitating vaccine manufacturing by 12 different companies which will lead to a spike in production in the near future.