Lok Sabha elections 2019: Don’t seek votes on basis of caste and religion, says Gadkari

Barely three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was being targeted because of his backward caste, senior Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that asking for votes on the basis of caste and religion is not right.

“Those who feel ashamed to seek votes on the basis of performance take support of caste, religion and language for getting votes,” Gadkari said, while addressing an evening rally in support of Girish Bapat, the BJP’s candidate for the Pune Lok Sabha seat.

He criticised political leaders for seeking votes on the basis of caste and religion.

His statement raised eyebrows in political circles as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself played the caste card during his public rally at Akluj in Solapur district on April 17. Modi had launched a scathing attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi accusing the Congress president of targeting him and his community because he was from a backward caste.

“I have been abused many times by the Congress and its allies, but this time they have branded the entire backward community as thieves,” Modi had said, while stating that this was a reflection of how the opposition looked at the backward classes.

Gadkari said that political leaders are known for their social contribution and not by their caste. The future is all about technology and new ideas and the BJP has embraced this by executing various projects, including developing waterways in the country.

He said that the BJP has ushered in a new economic policy and this will help the nation’s development. Criticising the Congress for non-performance over the past six decades, he said the Congress government completed irrigation projects on time, it would have prevented farmers’ suicides.

Many irrigation projects were left incomplete by the Congress governments and the BJP has sought to restart these projects, mainly in western Maharashtra, he said.