Union Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari is deeply distressed and this is evident from the hints coming from him in recent weeks. He has started off by saying at an event in Nagpur, his own home turf and the base of the RSS, that politics interests him less now as it is cent per cent power play and that he’s started thinking as to when he must quit politics. He said at another event, again in Nagpur, that it was bad policy to “use and throw” those around us. His audience comprised majorly of young entrepreneurs, but many read between the lines and saw a personal agony behind it. They linked this to his removal from the top BJP decision-making bodies — the parliamentary board and central election commission a week ago.
Gadkari, a former BJP chief who had also functioned as a minister in Maharashtra long ago, is a seasoned politician. Many had thought he, with his close connections with the RSS top brass in Nagpur, could be PM one day. As minister for roads, Gadkari’s performance was exemplary. The infra push he gave in recent years stands out and demonstrates his administrative and leadership acumen. His recent comment, that officers need only say “Yes Sir” and follow what their boss wants, has been part of his grand strategy to produce results. At the same time, under the Modi-Shah dispensation, his voice was largely muted at the top levels of party and government. With his long experience in party and governance his views perhaps did not get the importance they deserved now. He is known to have reduced his interventions at such high-level discussions.
Clearly, Gadkari could not be eliminated from the top BJP decision-making bodies without the tacit approval of the RSS, the ideological superstructure of the saffron political establishment. New influences are evident in the RSS leadership itself though Mohan Bhagwat remains at its head. What must be stressed is that the RSS is a well-knit entity and plans its strategies well in advance; its role in the selection of Narendra Modi as PM nominee, for instance, was a well-thought out plan. This is time for the BJP and the RSS to look at the future after the Modi era. Allegations were that Gadkari made money. A perception was also gaining ground that another Brahmin leader from Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis needed more importance than Gadkari in the party now. It is perhaps logical to suspect that the RSS has zeroed in on someone else as Modi’s successor for the future and hence wants to systematically reduce the eminence of Gadkari.
