‘Not going to compromise for any post...’: Nitin Gadkari says he turned down Opposition's backing for PM post

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari said that a senior Opposition party leader offered support to the him if he chose to run 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 at a journalism awards function in Nagpur without specifying when the conversation took place. 

“But, I asked why you should support me, and why should I take your support. To become the prime minister is not the aim in my 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,” the senior BJP leader added. 

In his speech, Gadkari underlined the importance of ethics in both journalism and politics. 

Democracy will be successful only when all four pillars -- judiciary, executive, legislature and media -- follow ethics, the BJP leader further said.

Recalling a meeting with a senior CPI functionary, Nitin Gadkari said he told the communist leader that late A B Bardhan was among the tallest politicians from Nagpur and Vidarbha. 

When the leader expressed surprise saying that Bardhan was an opponent of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Gadkari said honest opposition should be respected. 

“I said one should respect a person who opposes with honesty, because there is honesty in his opposition....one who opposes with dishonesty deserves no respect,” said Nitin Gadkari. 

Comrade Bardhan was faithful to his ideology, and politics as well as journalism now lack such people, he said. 

Gadkari, who has won the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat three times, is a prominent figure in the BJP. He is currently serving as Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways. 

He became the Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Minister of Shipping in May 2014. 

During the second term of the BJP-led central government in 2019, Gadkari retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, while the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation were replaced with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on May 31, 2019. 

Gadkari won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Nagpur constituency, defeating his nearest Congress rival by a margin of 1,37,603 votes. However, Gadkari's winning margin went down by 78,397 in this election. In 2019, he had defeated Congress' Nana Patole by 2,16,000 votes. The BJP leader first contested from the constituency in 2014, when he won by 2,84,828 votes. 

(With inputs from agencies)