After Lok Sabha nudge, Gadkari calls Priyanka Gandhi for meeting on highway issues, Wayanad

New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s complaint during her speech in the Lok Sabha that union minister Nitin Gadkari has not given her time despite her asking for an appointment led the minister to promptly call her. Priyanka followed up on the offer and landed at his office. She wanted to discuss some issues on the Shimla highway as well as some projects in Kerala. 

During the Question Hour, Gandhi raised an issue about retaining walls on the Chandigarh-Shimla highway. “... in many places the retaining wall is so low in the very places where the landslide is taking place. May I request you to look into the matter,” the Wayanad MP asked. 

She also asked Gadkari for an appointment. “May I also request you to grant me an appointment … I’ve been asking since June to talk about my constituency,” she added. 

Gandkari asked her to visit him after the Question Hour. “My doors are always open … There is no need for an appointment,” she added. 

Soon after, Priyanka visited Gadkari in his office to speak about six projects in Kerala. In response, Gadkari informed her that some of the projects she had mentioned were under the purview of the Kerala government and the Centre had no role in them. He told her that he would look into the remaining projects. 

Gadkari also said that he had looked into a matter in Rae Bareli that Priyanka’s brother Rahul Gandhi had raised. “Bhai ke kaam kar diya, behen ka nahin karunga to aap bolenge ki nahin kiya (I did your brother’s work, and if i don’t do your’s you will tell me that I did his but not yours),” Gadkari said, leading to laughter in the room. 

Gadkari also offered Priyanka a dish made of rice powder that he had made himself after watching videos online.