Nitin Gadkari warned his party not to make the same mistakes as Congress (File)
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The BJP has been a different kind of party and that is why it has repeatedly won the trust of voters, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today while warning that the party should not repeat the past mistakes of the Congress that saw it exit from power.
“If we continue to do what the Congress used to do, their exit and our entry will be of no use,” Gadkari stressed in comments that came more than a month after the BJP failed to secure a majority of its own in the Lok Sabha elections.
The minister was addressing an executive meeting of the Goa BJP near Panaji, which was attended by party state unit chief Sadanand Tanavade and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, among others.
In his 40-minute speech, the Union minister recalled his mentor and former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani’s statement that “the BJP is a different party”.
“Advani Ji “I used to say that we are a different party. We have to understand how different we are from other parties,” the former BJP president said.
The Lok Sabha MP from Nagpur said people had elected the BJP because of the Congress’s mistakes and warned his party not to make the same mistakes.
“If we make the same mistakes, their departure and our arrival will be of no use,” he said.
“Therefore, in the coming days, party cadres must know that politics is an instrument to achieve social and economic reforms,” he said.
Mr Gadkari stressed, “We have to create a corruption-free country and for that we must have a plan in place.”
Referring to politics in Maharashtra, Mr Gadkari argued that in his home state there is a tendency to play politics on the basis of caste.
“I have decided not to follow that trend. I have told people that I will not get involved in caste politics. If you want to win, you can use a plastic bag. “Those who talk about caste will be ousted from power,” he warned.
A person is known by the values he possesses and not by his caste, he said.
In a message to the BJP cadres in Goa, Mr Gadkari urged them to visit all constituencies and strengthen the organisation so that the party can retain power in the 2027 assembly elections.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
