<p>Nagpur: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said that for a political leader, the party should be like his family, and he should consider the party workers as his family members.</p>.<p>Gadkari was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the BJP's new office in Maharashtra's Nagpur city.</p>.<p>Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule were also present in the programme.</p>.<p>The Bharatiya Janata Party is also celebrating its foundation day on Sunday.</p>.<p>The BJP was founded on April 6, 1980 by leaders of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a party which had merged with other opposition parties to form the Janata Party to take on the Congress in the post-Emergency 1977 polls.</p>.<p>The BJP won only two Lok Sabha seats in the first national election it fought in 1984. However, it rose rapidly later under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, coming to power in the 90s as the head of a coalition, before Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the party to its maiden majority in 2014.</p>.<p>The party has been in power at the Centre since then.</p>.Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah meets Nitin Gadkari, urges Centre to build tunnel roads in Bengaluru .<p>Gadkari said, "For a leader, his party should be like his family and the party workers like family members. You should love the party workers like you love your children." </p><p>He said leaders like him and Fadnavis got the opportunity to become what they are today because of the dedication and sacrifice of innumerable party workers from the beginning.</p>.<p>There was an adverse time when the Congress tried to propagate a wrong image of the Jana Sangh, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS in the society, Gadkari said.</p>.<p>"But, we overcame that spread of misinformation about us. Ours is not a casteist or a communal party," he said.</p>.<p>Gadkari further said no one is big because of his caste and added that "being a BJP worker is our caste (identity)".</p>.<p>The BJP's objective is the overall development of the nation, he said.</p>.<p>"Nation comes first and above everything for us," said the Lok Sabha member from Nagpur.</p>.<p>Gadkari personally contributed Rs 25 lakh for the construction of the new BJP office.</p>
<p>Nagpur: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said that for a political leader, the party should be like his family, and he should consider the party workers as his family members.</p>.<p>Gadkari was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the BJP's new office in Maharashtra's Nagpur city.</p>.<p>Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule were also present in the programme.</p>.<p>The Bharatiya Janata Party is also celebrating its foundation day on Sunday.</p>.<p>The BJP was founded on April 6, 1980 by leaders of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a party which had merged with other opposition parties to form the Janata Party to take on the Congress in the post-Emergency 1977 polls.</p>.<p>The BJP won only two Lok Sabha seats in the first national election it fought in 1984. However, it rose rapidly later under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, coming to power in the 90s as the head of a coalition, before Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the party to its maiden majority in 2014.</p>.<p>The party has been in power at the Centre since then.</p>.Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah meets Nitin Gadkari, urges Centre to build tunnel roads in Bengaluru .<p>Gadkari said, "For a leader, his party should be like his family and the party workers like family members. You should love the party workers like you love your children." </p><p>He said leaders like him and Fadnavis got the opportunity to become what they are today because of the dedication and sacrifice of innumerable party workers from the beginning.</p>.<p>There was an adverse time when the Congress tried to propagate a wrong image of the Jana Sangh, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS in the society, Gadkari said.</p>.<p>"But, we overcame that spread of misinformation about us. Ours is not a casteist or a communal party," he said.</p>.<p>Gadkari further said no one is big because of his caste and added that "being a BJP worker is our caste (identity)".</p>.<p>The BJP's objective is the overall development of the nation, he said.</p>.<p>"Nation comes first and above everything for us," said the Lok Sabha member from Nagpur.</p>.<p>Gadkari personally contributed Rs 25 lakh for the construction of the new BJP office.</p>