Hindutva not against any religion, treating all religions equally is true secularism: Nitin Gadkari

Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said true secularism lies in treating all religions equally, and added that Hindutva was not opposed to any religion.

The former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief also said his party believes that an individual's worth is not determined by the caste, religion or gender, but by the values and character.

Speaking at an event where former Maharashtra minister Ravindra Chavan was unanimously elected as the new president of the BJP's Maharashtra unit, Gadkari also called upon party workers to pursue the vision of socio-economic equality as envisioned by reformers Jyotiba Phule, Shahu Maharaj and Dr B R Ambedkar.

"Hindutva is not opposed to any religion. True secularism lies in treating all religions equally," he said.

"We must work towards completely eradicating untouchability and casteism from society. The goals of social and economic equality, set by Phule, Shahu Maharaj and Dr Ambedkar, must not be limited to rhetoric. We must demonstrate them through action," he said.

He also described the BJP as a party of humble workers. "People having no political background have a future only in this party," he said.

The Minister for Road Transport and Highways also stressed the importance of maintaining social harmony and delivering good governance.

"We must use political power not just to win elections but to bring transformation in society. Social progress is essential to national progress," he added.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju, who served as the BJP's central observer for the Maharashtra state president election, praised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, calling him the most popular CM in the country.

He said he travelled to various parts of the state after the last Lok Sabha elections and found that members of certain Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities were misled into believing that the BJP planned to change the Constitution.

"They told me they trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi but believed that BJP was against the Constitution. I asked them, if you truly respect the Constitution, how can you vote for the Congress - a party that humiliated Dr Ambedkar and forced him to resign as law minister? It was only in 1990 that Ambedkar was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna. From 1956 to 1990, the Congress did not even acknowledge his contribution," Rijiju said.

CM Fadnavis highlighted the BJP's internal democracy and criticised the dynastic politics in other parties.

"In almost 99 per cent of political parties in the country, presidents come from a single family or have blood relations. The BJP is the only party where a grassroots worker can rise to become state or national president. Ravindra Chavan's journey is an example of that," he said.

Fadnavis took aim at the Shiv Sena (UBT), accusing it of spreading false narratives about attempts to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra.

"When they were in power, the Marathi population in Mumbai declined. We are the ones providing housing to the poor - whether it is people in BDD chawls or Dharavi," he said.

Referring to the recent controversy surrounding the three-language formula and the alleged imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra schools, Fadnavis said the BJP respects all Indian languages.

Without naming Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, he said, "We are not the ones who oppose Hindi while sending children to English-medium schools. If you study in Bombay Scottish (school in Mumbai) and then question Hindi, that is unacceptable."

He added that a committee had been formed to study the issue of language education in schools and that the government would take a decision based on its recommendations, free from external pressure.