I don't aspire to be Prime Minister; no one in the BJP will ask me: Nitin Gadkari to The Economist | Mint

Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari has said that he does not aspire to become Prime Minister. Gadkari, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet, said no one in the saffron party would ask him to take up the top job.

In a recent interview with the London weekly The EconomistThe 67-year-old Gadkari has been called one of the most popular and controversial ministers in the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

“When he became the BJP's youngest-ever leader in 2009, he was hailed as a rising star, only to be ousted four years later over a tax scandal,” the piece reads.

He was later cleared of wrongdoing and rebuilt his reputation as a member of Prime Minister Modi's cabinet, overseeing a massive expansion of India's highways. According to The EconomistGadkari was 'removed' from the BJP parliamentary board in 2022, amid rumors of tension with the Prime Minister.

“He is now one of the candidates to succeed Modi,” it said, and his chances may have been improved by US prosecutors' allegations against Gautam Adani, Modi's closest business ally.

Even before these allegations became public, Gadkari said The Economist writes, had raised his profile with several controversial public comments. Some of these comments were widely seen as side criticism of Modi.

“No one is perfect and no one can claim to be perfect,” Gadkari said in the interview.

In the 2024 general elections, the BJP lost its majority in Lok Sabha for the first time since 2014. Gadkari attributes this to the fact that the opposition wrongly promoted that Modi wanted to change India's secular constitution.

Tolerance is an integral part of India's political system

But, he says, the BJP also made a mistake, and it needed to communicate better and focus on development, not identity.

“We have to create a good atmosphere between the parties and between people with different types of ideology,” he said in the interview.

In September, Gadkari said the biggest test for democracy is for the king to tolerate the strongest views against him. The allegation was widely seen as targeting Prime Minister Modi.

“I am not talking about any person or leader,” Gadkari said The Economist, adding that tolerance and respect are an integral part of India's political system. “It doesn't mean we are enemies if we are in opposition,” Gadkari said. “That is the culture of democracy.”

The Economist writes that Modi's position is not immediately threatened and that opinion polls suggest that Home Minister Amit Shah is the frontrunner. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is at second position, followed by Gadkari. “But Modi's successor will be decided by the senior ranks of the BJP and the RSS, not by opinion polls,” the piece reads. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is the ideological mentor of the BJP.

The Economist writes that foreign officials see Gadkari as the moderate face of the BJP and by business leaders as a champion of public-private infrastructure partnerships.

He is liked by some opposition leaders, which helps build coalitions. And his popularity in Maharashtra, including among Muslims, has helped the BJP retain control of Nagpur, the Lok Sabha seat he has represented since 2014. His other strength is his relationship with the RSS, headquartered in Nagpur.

In September, Gadkari claimed that an opposition leader had offered to make him prime minister if he defected before the elections.

When asked if he wants the top job one day, Gadkari said, “I am here, happy. I do my job. I have no ambition or ambition to become Prime Minister.”

“No one is going to ask me, so no question arises,” Gadkari responded when asked whether the BJP will ask him to become prime minister.