A clip tweeted by Congress president Rahul Gandhi showed senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari admitting that the BJP rode to power on the back of several “tall promises” in the 2014 elections.
ThePrint asks– Nitin Gadkari says Modi-led BJP overpromised: Cracks in party or 2019 course-correction?
Mohan Bhagwat and Gadkari are in a power struggle against blundering twosome Modi-Shah
Rajeev Gowda
MP, Congress
Given its track record of lethal rumour mongering and promotion of fake news and doctored videos, it is impossible to include the words ‘truth’ and ‘BJP’ in the same sentence. Thus it is newsworthy when a BJP leader blurts out the truth.
In February 2015, Amit Shah admitted that Narendra Modi’s promise to bring back black money from abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every account was a “jumla” aimed at fooling the gullible voter. Now, Nitin Gadkari has stated that the BJP made tall promises to win elections and will laugh at people’s faces if reminded about them.
This is nothing new. Wikileaks, which the BJP likes to selectively quote, reported that Arun Jaitley had said that Hindu nationalism was nothing but an “opportunistic issue” for the BJP. As the BJP tries to polarise the 2019 election on religious lines, remember this statement.
So, is the RSS-favourite Gadkari’s statement a signal that he is distancing himself from Modi’s failure to deliver on his tall promises? If the BJP tries to cobble a post-election coalition, will Gadkari be the acceptable face?
NO! The Modi-Shah duo has totally captured the party and will defy the Sangh. They will sit in the opposition rather than let anyone else lead a BJP coalition. So Mohan Bhagwat and Gadkari are in a power struggle against the blundering twosome, leading Bhagwat to act liberal and Gadkari admit to the lack of jobs and India’s economic difficulties.
Gadkari’s statement is also aimed at recalibrating voter expectations. Already the BJP’s four-year report talked of “saaf neeyat” or clean intentions, given that the Modi sarkar has failed to deliver results. This changed rhetoric will only trigger people’s wrath for having been turned into fools.
Get ready. If you ask the BJP, what happened to the promised “acche din?” They’ll tell you: “Acche din came and went. Did you miss it? Too bad. Your fault.”
Nitin Gadkari is too shrewd to put Narendra Modi in a spot with a comment
Sandip Ghose
Marketing executive and commentator
Nitin Gadkari is no lightweight politician. He has been the president of the BJP. Many consider him as a likely consensus choice for PM if Narendra Modi cannot notch up the magic number in 2019.
Gadkari made a light-hearted comment in an informal ‘adda’ session among friends. But, he is too seasoned a man to make such a remark before the camera without thinking. At the same time, it would be naïve to ascribe deeper motives to his statement.
Gadkari is well aware how Amit Shah’s ‘jumla’ faux-pas has been haunting Narendra Modi for four years. So, he would not be callous to pour oil over a dying fire with a reckless comment.
Gadkari and the BJP know the question of Rs 15 lakhs in deposit will keep coming up during the 2019 campaign. The BJP has two options to refute it. First, it could go into a long-winded explanation of what Narendra Modi actually meant. They could reason that Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts was just a metaphor. It was to give the common people an idea about the quantum of black money stashed outside the country. But that would be counter-productive and open up raw wounds. Second, they could deflect the subject with such flippant replies. Narendra Modi can then focus on what his government has done to bring black money back into India.
Gadkari is too shrewd to put Narendra Modi in a spot (or “troll” him, as some say). Later, if the BJP comes out victorious, he can always turn it on its head. He can again joke, “I made that comment as we were 100 per cent confident of winning”. So it’s a “heads I win, tails you lose” proposition. It will no doubt generate some fun in the otherwise sombre election atmosphere.
There is no division in BJP; it’s Stalinisation is complete
Apoorvanand
Professor of Hindi, Delhi University
The admission by Nitin Gadkari has caught political pundits by surprise. Is it a clever way adopted by Gadkari to spite Narendra Modi and Amit Shah? Or, is it yet another way of telling the constituency that the promises are a ruse to hide the real reason for which they should vote them to power? The real reason is anti-minority majoritarian nationalism.
I don’t see any division in the BJP. Its Stalinisation is complete. There is only one voice in the party, and others have simply surrendered. Even more authoritative is the RSS which decides the future of the BJP. To treat it as a normal party where factional fights take place is a folly. The RSS, in these times of hard nationalism across the globe, would only like to further harden this image. The present leadership of the party fits the bill.
Moreover, one should also see it as a sign of confidence that the BJP seems to enjoy vis-a-vis the masses. The masses know that the leader is lying and they like him precisely for that, for his ability to hoodwink the innocent to achieve the real goal. They don’t mind this lie, this pathetic joke.
A sign of this is the way media has treated it. There is hardly any condemnation. No embarrassment. We didn’t see any discomfort when the Prime Minister himself said that demonetisation has ruined many marriage parties and laughed wickedly, enjoying the plight of those parents whose plans had gone haywire.
Gadkari’s latest comment is yet another expression of the hubris that has made all the leaders of the BJP feel that their constituents are now their subjects.
Also read: Gadkari’s clean Ganga promise by 2020 far-fetched? A fact-check on progress of vital schemes
Gadkari also talked about developmental work under Modi but that was not highlighted
Madhav Bhandari
Chief spokesperson of BJP, Maharashtra
Nitin Gadkari made that comment on a light-hearted note. It was a non-political show, and he of course didn’t mean that. In that same programme, he dedicated at least 45 minutes talking about all the developmental work the Modi government is responsible for. But why would the media focus on that? They have blown this one comment out of proportion, instead of carrying the rest of the interview. He talked about infrastructural growth and the government’s measures to find alternative fuel, among a variety of other issues. But that won’t meet the political agenda of the biased media organisations, so they chose to not run that bit.
The government is responsible for the escalated growth of national highways in the country, and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has been a super success. All the promises the government made, it has been able to deliver on. In fact, many governmental schemes are transforming the entire face of the country. Gadkari ji talked about these things extensively in his interview as well. Rahul Gandhi is tweeting that clip and trying to make a mockery out of it. But Rahul Gandhi forgets that he is facing charges of tax evasion in the National Herald case and is out on bail. He must not be making such jibes on others.
Hands tied by Modi, this is Gadkari’s way of flexing muscles
Ruhi Tewari
Associate editor, ThePrint
That the BJP, led most actively by Narendra Modi, had made lofty, over-ambitious promises during its 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, is not stuff secrets are made of. But a senior BJP leader, who is a former party president and a union minister, himself admitting that is bound to make waves.
A video tweeted by the Congress shows Nitin Gadkari claim that the BJP made “tall promises” before coming to power, obviously giving fresh ammunition to the principal opposition party. Gadkari – known to be close to the RSS and an able administrator with sharp political acumen – has had to play second fiddle to the PM Modi-Amit Shah duo.
Evidently irked by having his hands tied by Modi, this is Gadkari’s way of flexing muscles. This is Gadkari asserting himself and his status as a political leader. Make no mistake, the BJP will still fight the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls as a united force.
Gadkari’s statement isn’t an outburst and is most definitely not a reflection of any real cracks in the party. It is a well-thought-out move to assert oneself, but without crossing the line or stepping out of the red boundaries of the party. This is more of a one-off episode than a concrete example of fissures in the party.
Having said that, the BJP knows its biggest advantage against the opposition is its stability and coherent functioning. The last thing it will want to do is give its political rivals any chance to question its internal functioning and unity. Episodes like these, therefore, are more likely to be aberrations than any sort of norm ahead of 2019.
By Fatima Khan, journalist at ThePrint. You can follow her on twitter @khanthefatima.
Attempts are made aggressively by print media like ‘-the print” s to malaign the present dispensation! God knows their hidden agenda! So called 200 years old political ruled our country over 60 years! It is shameful to note that 80% of Our population is unable make both ends meet? Who is responsible for this present pathetic condition?
We (Indians) have a habit of jumping to conclusion without hearing to all the parties involved in any issue.. or this has been a trend lately.. Nitin Gadkari has clarified that the video, which Rahul Gandhi shared on his twitter handle, was not complete and also presented in a different context but all our intellectual fellows were quick to react to it..
Anything against the current BJP government draws such quick and sharp reaction but so called liberals, whose definition of liberal thought is that there thought process is the only right one…
And I still cannot understand how can anyone take such video clips seriously, that too shared by Rahul Gandhi, who has of late been sharing incorrect information with public (be it Rafael deal price, or asking BHEL to manufacture smart phones for people of Chhattisgarh)
Nitin Gadkari was talking about Maharashtra Government.
This report conveniently does not mention this fact!
There is no mention of 15 lakh in Gadkari’s speech. He was talking with reference to the toll to be scrapped etc.
Also, Gadkari is honestly telling you, what they expected (they didn’t expect to win so many seats in Maharashtra).
Can any congressi comment honestly about RahulG’ s intelligence or competence?
Can any regional leader honestly disclose their income source Eg. Mayawati, Mulayam and laloo, Sharad pawar, Thackeray brothers etc?
It took BJP almost fifty years to realise that realpolitik gets you political power and not ideals and ethics!
Politics is about perception and NOT reality!
Happenstance, coincidence, enemy action, one cannot really say. Achhe Din kabhi nahin aate, this is now an albatross around our necks; Where are the jobs ? ; India is facing an economic crisis; Now this, we simply laugh and walk away. To be fair to the record, even a lamppost knew in 2014 that the BJP was coming to power, so promises made on the campaign trail cannot be breezily waved away. Even as one’s own ministry is now constrained to count one kilometre of a four lane highway as an achievement of four kilometres.