Union Minister Gadkari attributes BJP's success to Vajpayee, Advani

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari made an indicative statement that the BJP has come to power in the country and in many states today under the leadership of Modi because of the previous leaders and activists like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, while speaking at a training programme for teachers in Nagpur.

Nagpur:Few days after being dropped from BJP's parliamentary board,Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday attributed the BJP's rise to power to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and Deendayal Upadhyaya. He was speaking at an event organised by the Laxmanrao Mankar Smriti Sanstha, which has over 11,000 teachers and many schools in tribal areas.

The Union Minister further recalled when he had first visited the BJP office in Mumbai. "The office was in a deplorable state, but Vajpayee had hope. Seeing the setting sun, he had said 'Andhera chhatega, sooraj niklega, kamal khilega (The darkness will disappear, the Sun will come out and the lotus (BJP's poll symbol) will bloom) one day," Gadkari recalled. "I was there. Everybody, who heard that speech believed that such a day will come. Atalji, Advaniji, Deendayal Upadhyaya and many workers did such work that today we are in power under Modiji's leadership in the country and in many states," he added.

Moreover, citing RSS ideologue the late Dattopant Thengadi while speaking on power-centric politics, he said, "Thengadi ji used to say that every politician thinks about his next election. He thinks (of the next) five years. But, every socio-economic reformer, who wants to build the society and the country thinks from one century to another century. He thinks of a hundred years. There are no shortcuts to this work."