Nitin Gadkari: Wings clipped, BJP leader watches from margins

BJP leader Nitin Gadkari is often praised as a man who thinks out-of-the-box, dreams big and delivers results. And rightly so. In his decades-long career, he has left his imprint across cities in the form of highways, flyovers and other infrastructure initiatives.

As a fellow party leader puts it, “He knows the art of getting things done.”

The 65-year-old, who loves to take notes, also has another enviable trait: he has friends across parties; and the Nagpur leader also is in the good books of the RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP.

With all these qualities, it is no wonder that he has been often spoken as a PM candidate and emerged as challenger to the all-powerful Narendra Modi-Amit Shah hegemony in the party.

Watch | What went wrong for Nitin Gadkari in BJP and RSS?

So, when he was dropped from the BJP’s parliamentary board recently, it was interpreted as the party top brass (read Modi-Shah) clipping his wings.

Hailing from Nagpur, Gadkari grew up in a family with deep ties to the RSS. Having got his early lessons in ‘shakhas’, he joined the ABVP in 1976, the student wing of the BJP, and was very active during the Emergency. It was as a student leader that he began honing the skill of cultivating relationships.

“He never shied away from work,” says a veteran journalist and political analyst from Nagpur. “In fact, when in ABVP, he often used to go to newspaper offices and deliver press notes. He used to chat with journalists over cups of tea. He knows how to maintain relationships.”

It was in 1985, when he became secretary of BJP Nagpur City, that he was first noticed in Maharashtra politics.

He established himself in Maharashtra politics when late Pramod Mahajan and late Gopinath Munde used to call the shots.

Gadkari shot into national fame when he became the Public Works Minister in the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government between 1995 and 1999.

During his stint, he oversaw the construction of 55 flyovers in Mumbai to decongest the city and executed the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the first such highway in the country.

“He knows the art of getting things done. He knows what kind of language has to be used with whom and he still does that,” a BJP leader said, adding that he was a big votary of Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Build – Operate–Transfer (BOT) models.

His work earned him the title ‘Flyover Man’. He also did the groundwork for the iconic Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

In 1995, then Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee appointed him the Chairman of National Rural Road Development Committee, which eventually led to Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

From 2009-13, Gadkari was the President of the BJP, steering the party in most difficult times after it lost two elections.

As party president, Gadkari emphasised on Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhya's principles of Integral Humanism and Antyodaya.

When Modi became the prime minister in 2014, Gadkari, who won the Lok Sabha polls from Nagpur, was given two crucial portfolios: Minister of Shipping and Minister of Road Transport and Highways. Later, he was also given charge of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

At one point, ahead of 2019, some of his close aides projected him as a prime ministerial candidate, which obviously didn’t sit well with the Modi-Shah duo.

Slowly, Modi and Shah began stripping him of his portfolios. Portfolio-light Gadkari now holds the lone charge of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

“Human relationship is the biggest strength of business, social service and politics,” said Gadkari after losing his seat in the parliamentary board.

“Thus, never indulge in the policy of use and throw. When you have held someone’s hand, hold it tight if he is your friend irrespective of whether the situation is good or bad.”

He also subtly took aim at the government. “Time is the biggest capital. The biggest problem is the government is not taking decisions on time.”

Gadkari, who has a penchant for plain-speaking, which has led to controversies, also created a flutter with his remarks in Nagpur.

Addressing a function, he said, “I had an offer to join the Congress party from my friend and (late Congress leader) Shrikant Jichkar. I told him I will jump into a well but not join the Congress.”

This led to speculation on his future political moves.

Gadkari may be down but not out. With RSS backing, the BJP leader may well catapult into limelight again.