Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said he has no ambition of becoming the Prime Minister and he won't compromise with his ideology. Speaking at India Today Conclave Mumbai 2024, he said he had received offers to become the prime minister before the elections and after the elections. The minister, however, did not divulge who made that offer to him.
The 2024 Lok Sabha results, which came out on June 4, surprised many as the BJP fell way short of the majority mark even as the NDA sailed through and formed the government.
Earlier this month, Gadkari said a political leader once offered to support him if he were to enter the race for the Prime Minister's post, but he declined the offer. "I remember one incident -- I would not name anyone -- that person said 'if you are going to become prime minister, we will support you'," Gadkari said while speaking at a function in Maharashtra's Nagpur.
Even there, Gadkari had said that becoming the prime minister was not the aim in his life. "I am loyal to my conviction and my organisation, and I am not going to compromise for any post because my conviction is foremost for me."
On Wednesday, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, while speaking at India Today Conclave, suggested that Gadkari should be given the top job and that he is underutilised in the NDA government. When asked who made that PM offer to Gadkari, Chavan said: "I didn't give it to him. I don't know who from the party...which party gave it to him. But I think why not if he's an efficient minister? He's been underutilised."
When asked whether he was giving an offer, he said: "I Can't. Who am I to give an offer? I have read in today's that he's now going to be the boss of the BJP alliance...I don't know whether that's true or not. He wants to go to Delhi, not come back to Maharashtra. He is an efficient minister although the entire NHAI is in a mess."