Democracy needs Opposition: Union Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari urged Congress members to stick to their convictions and stay with their party, saying that a strong Congress party is needed to prevent regional parties from taking the Opposition space.
The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, speaking at a journalism awards event in Pune on Saturday, also stated that he was “not in the race” for the Prime Ministership.
“At this time, I am not interested in coming to Maharashtra [State politics] since I am a national politician.” I used to be apprehensive about going to the Centre, but now I enjoy it. Mr. Gadkari said during a Q&A session hosted by a famous vernacular newspaper as part of the event, “I am a conviction-oriented politician and not very ambitious.”
Strong opposition required for Democracy
Mr. Gadkari said a strong opposition was a sine qua non for democracy, but that a diminished Congress was not desired for democracy because regional parties would take its place, which was not a positive omen.
“Despite losing the Lok Sabha election [in the late 1950s], Atal Bihari Vajpayee won the esteem of [Congress Prime Minister] Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. As a result, the role of the opposition in a democracy is critical. I sincerely hope Congress continues to be strong. Those in Congress now must remain true to their views in order to stay in office. “They must keep working and not give up in the face of defeat,” the BJP leader added, referring to the Congress’ rout in recent Assembly elections in five states.
Mr. Gadkari stated that one should not ‘leave’ one’s ideas or party simply to gain electoral advantage. “Everyone will get their turn. The important thing is to keep working,” he remarked, comparing the ruling party and the opposition to the two wheels of democracy.
He recalled how the late Congressman from Nagpur, Dr. Shrikant Jichkar, discouraged him from staying with the BJP in the early 1980s when the saffron party’s prospects were at an all-time low. Mr. Gadkari stated, “Yet, I stayed to my convictions and persevered with the BJP, which saw its fortunes surge under Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s leadership to become the party it is today.”
While there may be differences in ideas (between leaders of different political parties), the Minister noted that this did not mean they were enemies, emphasizing Maharashtra’s political tradition of people getting along despite their disagreements.
Following a series of raids on MVA leaders and their kin, including the Enforcement Directorate’s recent raid on Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s brother-in-law, Mr. Gadkari’s remarks come amid a war of words in Maharashtra between the tripartite ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ (MVA) coalition of the Shiv Sena, the NCP, and the Congress, and the opposition BJP.
“Maharashtra has kept this heritage of coexistence between individuals of different ideas and opinions… Maharashtra’s political culture does not tolerate this kind of politics [of venom]. Instead of competing ideas or ideologies, today’s challenge is rank opportunism,” Mr. Gadkari remarked, noting that today’s politics seem to be increasingly based on convenience rather than conviction.