‘Fearless’ or ‘Greedy’? Twitter Divided On Nitin Gadkari’s Comment

Some called him ‘fearless’, while others asked him to choose his words wisely.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is the centre of attention on Twitter at the moment. 

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/ The Quint)

Union minister Nitin Gadkari is the centre of attention on Twitter at the moment – some are calling him the next prime minister, while others accusing him of being a “backstabber”.

It all began after the minister made a statement on Sunday, 27 January, where he seemingly took a dig at fellow political leaders.

“Citizens admire leaders who show them dreams, but when those dreams aren’t fulfilled, people also beat up the leaders.”

Nitin Gadkari in a statement

Many thought this was a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi commented that he is showing the prime minister “a mirror in a subtle way”. Mumbai Congress Committee President Sanjay Nirupam also tweeted saying Gadkari has launched a “fresh attack” on Modi, and that he would need to “beef up his security”.

Gadkari’s cryptic remark also led social media users to speculate about who the attack was aimed at.

While some advised him to choose his words wisely...

Photo Courtesy: Screenshot of a tweet

...others were simply angry at him, calling him “greedy” and accusing him of eyeing the prime ministerial position.

Some alleged he is going the ‘Shatrughan Sinha way’.

Twitter page @ElectionAdda put out a poll asking users to choose the BJP leaders they think might quit the party before elections. The list had the names of Shatrughan Sinha, Nitin Gadkari, and Varun Gandhi, among others.

There were, however, many others who praised the Union minister for speaking his mind and said they would like to see him as the prime minister. Some Gadkari supporters also said the minister is very ‘clear-headed’ and delivers on promises.

This is not the first time Gadkari has upset his party members. Last year, he had said at an event that some people in the BJP need to speak less. He had said that politicians in general need to be more economical while speaking to the media.

Gadkari had also said, “We were very confident that we would never come to power, so we were advised to make tall promises. Now that we are in power, the public reminds us of those promises made by us. However, these days, we just laugh and move on.”