'Will kick anyone who talks about caste': Nitin Gadkari warns against discrimination

Mumbai: Known for plain-speak and calling spade a spade, BJP veteran and Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday lashed out at politicians engaging in caste-based politics and said, 'Jo karega jaat ki baat, usko kas ke marunga laat (I will kick hard anyone who talks about caste)”.

“I will kick hard anyone who talks about caste….no one should be discriminated because of caste, religion, language or sex,” Gadkari, the Nagpur MP, said at the convocation ceremony of Central India Group of Institutions.

“I have told a gathering of 50,000 people…jo karega jaat ki baat, uske kass ke maarunga laat. My friends warned me that I may have caused self-harm by saying this but, I am not concerned about it. One does not lose his life if he loses elections. I will stick to my principles,” the veteran politician said.

“A person is not known by their caste, sect, religion, language, or sex, but only by their qualities. That is why we will not discriminate against anyone based on these factors,” added Gadkari.