Union Minister Nitin Gadkari (right) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File photo: X/@nitin_gadkari
Nitin Gadkari: ‘I do not have any aspiration to become PM’
An article in The Economist said Gadkari is one of the candidates to succeed Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has said he doesn’t have any aspiration or ambition to become Prime Minister.
In a recent interview with The Economist, Gadkari also said nobody in the BJP asked him to take over the top job and so that question will not arise.
Gadkari said he is happy doing his work as road transport and highways minister.
Also read: Was offered PM post once; declined as it wasn’t my calling: Nitin Gadkari
“I am here, happy. I am doing my work. I do not have any aspiration or ambition to become prime minister. No one is going to ask me, so no question arises,” Gadkari told the London-based weekly.
An article in the weekly said Gadkari is one of the candidates to succeed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gadkari is now “one of the candidates to succeed Mr Modi. And his chances may have just improved with American prosecutors’ allegations against Gautam Adani, Mr Modi’s closest business ally”, it said.
Also read: People lack respect and fear of law: Gadkari in LS on road accidents
“But Mr Modi's successor will be decided by the upper ranks of the BJP and the RSS, not by opinion polls,” it added.
Recently, billionaire Gautam Adani, founder chairman of the ports-to-energy conglomerate, his nephew Sagar, and another key executive were charged by the US Department of Justice of being part of an alleged scheme to pay USD 265 million bribes to Indian officials to win contracts for the supply of solar electricity that would yield USD 2 billion profit over 20 years.
The Adani Group has denied all allegations as baseless.
In September, Gadkari had said he was offered support if he entered the race to become the Prime Minister, but declined saying it was not his aim in life.
“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 had said at an event in Nagpur.
“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,” he added.
