Vajpayee said PMs and parties will come & go but nation will remain, says Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari, Union road minister, is confident that the BJP's development work will bring it back to power in 2024. He dismissed the INDIA alliance as a ‘game of compromises’.

The BJP’s “dream” of India becoming a vishwaguru will one day come true even if the individual “dreamers” change, said Nitin Gadkari, Union minister of road transport and highways, in an exclusive

Gadkari acknowledged that “change is the order of things”, but said he was convinced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would get a third term in 2024 and faced no threat from anyone, comparing the opposition INDIA alliance with a business that changes its name when it goes bankrupt.

He described the Congress-led INDIA’s politics as “a game of compromises, compulsions, limitations and contradictions” and compared it to the Janata Party coalition, which was formed to defeat Indira Gandhi but ultimately collapsed after a truncated term in power.

“I remember all the parties had got together against Indiraji— Congress (O), Jana Sangh, Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party— and a big alliance was formed. When a calculation was done, everyone thought they would win but Congress won (in 1980). So 2+2 = 4 doesn’t happen in politics,” he said.

Gadkari claimed that the present-day opposition parties had banded together because the BJP is “strong” and has done good work.

“They can’t defeat us individually— that’s why they thought of this alliance,” he said.

“Secondly, they have changed their name — when an industry or business goes bankrupt, it changes its old name and gets a new name. And then it opens a new account in the bank because after the NPA (non-performing assets), the bank doesn’t give you a new loan. To get a loan they have to come with a new name,” he added. “Jiska diwala pit chuka hai wo nayi dukaan khol rahein hai (Those who have gone bankrupt are opening a new shop).”

In a wide-ranging interaction with ThePrint Monday at his residence in Delhi, Gadkari also spoke at length about the BJP’s philosophy and history, his own ascent in the party, and even the  over the alleged Rs 250 crore-per-km cost of the Dwarka Expressway.