Union Minister Nitin Gadkari expressed concern over opportunistic politicians wanting to remain associated with the ruling party and called such 'deterioration in ideology' detrimental to democracy during an event organised by the Lokmat media group.
He emphasised that the real problem lies in the lack of ideas, not differences of opinion. He further added that the number of leaders standing firm on their ideology is gradually decreasing. Gadkari stated that India, being the world's largest democracy, serves as an ideal democratic governance system for the rest of the world.
"I always say this jokingly that no matter which party's government it is, one thing is sure that the one who does good work never gets respect and those who do bad work are never punished," Gadkari was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
He stressed the importance of a politician's work for their respective constituencies over their speeches in Parliament. He also praised former Bihar Chief Minister Karpoori Thakur's simplicity and asserted that such individuals strengthen India's democracy.
"After stepping down as chief minister, he (Thakur) travelled in an auto-rickshaw and his condition was very ordinary," said Gadkari.
The Union Minister also praised Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for his oratory. He added that he has learnt a lot from former Defence Minister George Fernandes' "behaviour, simplicity and personality".
"After Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the person I was impressed with a lot was George Fernandes," he noted.
At the same event, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale humorously commented on the unpredictability of politicians switching parties. "It is not known which MP will move to which party and when," Athawale commented.
Ramdas Athawale, whose RPI (Athawale) is an NDA ally, said in lighter vein: "I am going to remain in power. I know which party is going to form its government." The event also saw various parliamentarians receiving awards for their contributions, including Shashi Tharoor of the Congress and Sasmit Patra of the BJD who were conferred the best parliamentarian of the year awards.
(With PTI inputs)