New Delhi:

Pollution has become a huge issue in India and the thrust of the government is on promoting the use of non-polluting sources to power personal and public transportation, Nitin Gadkari has said.

In an exclusive conversation during the NDTV Infrashakti Awards on Tuesday, the Road Transport and Highways minister also said work is underway on a pilot project in Nagpur involving a 132-seater bus which will have airplane-like seating and a “bus hostess”, and will run on non-polluting sources of energy while still being cheaper than regular diesel buses. The government’s aim, he said, is for India to become a net energy exporter instead of an importer. 

“The most important problem in the country today is pollution – air, water and sound – especially for Delhi. We need import-substitute, cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous transport solutions. We have electric vehicles… Now, Indian Oil is installing 300 ethanol pumps and automobile companies are bringing in flex vehicles. So, instead of filling petrol at Rs 120 a litre, it is better to use ethanol at Rs 60 per litre, with the vehicle running 60% on electricity and 40% on ethanol. This will also reduce pollution,” the minister said in Hindi.

The other thing the government is focusing on, Mr Gadkari said, is reducing the cost of public transportation. A diesel bus costs Rs 115 a km to run while AC electric buses run at Rs 41 and non-AC ones at Rs 37, with subsidies. Without subsidies, this will now be between Rs 50 and Rs 60, he said, which will help reduce ticket prices by 15-20%.

“We are doing a pilot project in Nagpur with Tata. When I went to the Czech Republic, they have a trolley bus which is achieved by joining three buses. Our project will seat 132 people and will travel 49 km on the ring road and it will halt at the bus stop after 40 km, getting charged for the next 40 km in just 40 seconds. The cost for this is working out to Rs 35-40 per km,” he said. 

“I have suggested it needs air-conditioning, comfortable chairs and space to keep a laptop in front of the seats. And, like air hostesses, there should be bus hostesses to give people fruits, packed food and beverages. My calculation is that this bus will cost (to run) 30% less than a diesel bus. If solar power is used, the cost will go down even more,” he added.

The minister said JCB has made construction equipment that uses 50% ethanol and 50% CNG and tractor makers are also working on machines that run on ethanol, methanol and CNG. This, he stressed, will help not just reduce pollution but also increase the income of farmers substantially. 

Ethanol From Stubble

Thanking Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri for accepting his suggestion, the Nagpur MP said Indian Oil has started a project producing 1 lakh litres of ethanol from stubble, as well as bio bitumen. The project, he said, is nearly complete and will also produce 76,000 tonnes of bio aviation fuel. 

Pointing to the ministry’s success in another area, Mr Gadkari said it reduced the height of the mountain of waste in the Ghazipur landfill in Delhi by seven metres as well as in Ahmedabad. Contaminated water from sewage is being purified and is being used in power generation. Organic waste can also be used to make bio CNG and bio LNG, or hydrogen. 

The minister said drones and ropeways are also in focus and another area of interest for the ministry is funicular railways (rope-propelled trains used on steep cliffs), especially for places like Uttarakhand, Himachal and Ladakh. All of these will help reduce pollution. 

GPS Tolling In 3 Months

Making a big announcement, the highways minister said that GPS-based tolling, which the government has been working on for a while, will be implemented on 5,000 km of road within three months. 

“Tenders are ready. Satellite-based tolling will ensure you only pay for the number of km that you have travelled on a particular road, and the amount will be deducted straight from your bank account. You won’t have to stop anywhere. This will start on 5,000 km and will then be implemented everywhere,” he asserted. 

Stating that he is aiming for a “green revolution” in agriculture, Mr Gadkari emphasised that he has no shortage of funds for his projects and investors are queuing up because his ministry is sitting on a goldmine.

“When foreign investors approach me, I serve them tea and then my first question is whether they are ready to finance projects in rupees. If they say yes, I take the conversation forward and end it if they don’t. There are rupee-dollar fluctuations and the yen is so strong that we are sometimes afraid of taking loans even on zero per cent interest,” he said. 

New Delhi:

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that highway agencies should not charge tolls if roads are not in good condition.

Mr Gadkari was speaking at a global workshop on satellite-based tolling, set to be implemented over 5,000 km this financial year.

“If you don’t provide good quality service, you should not charge toll…We are in a hurry to start tolling to collect user fees and protect our interest,” the road transport and highways minister said. “You should collect the user fee where you provide the best quality road. If you collect toll on roads with potholes, mud, then there will be a backlash from people,” he added.

State-owned NHAI plans to implement (Global Navigation Satellite System) GNSS-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system within the existing FASTag ecosystem, initially using a hybrid model where both (Radio Frequency Identification) RFID-based ETC and GNSS-based ETC will operate simultaneously.

NHAI proposes to roll this out on commercial vehicles initially then private vehicles, considering scalability and privacy concerns.

The highway authority has also recommended driver behaviour analysis and back-end data analysis for fraud detection.

“With GNSS, the payment modes might be converted from prepaid to postpaid. Banks and financial institutions might be able to provide faster credits based on travel plans,” NHAI has recommended. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday clarified that the construction of the bridge that collapsed in Bihar’s Araria district was not undertaken by the Union Road Transport Ministry.

The collapsed bridge was constructed by the Bihar Government’s Rural Development Ministry, he added.

A portion of a newly constructed bridge over the Bakra River collapsed in Pararia village in Bihar on Tuesday.

No casualty was reported.

The construction of the collapsed bridge in Bihar’s Araria district was not carried out under the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry. The bridge was being constructed by the Bihar government’s Rural Development Ministry, Mr Gadkari said in a post on X in Hindi.

बिहार के अररिया में दुर्घटनाग्रस्त पुलिया का निर्माण केंद्रीय सड़क परिवहन मंत्रालय के अंतर्गत नहीं हुआ है। बिहार सरकार के ग्रामीण विकास मंत्रालय के अंतर्गत इसका काम चल रहा था।

— Office Of Nitin Gadkari (@OfficeOfNG) June 18, 2024

The bridge, constructed by the state government, was not opened to the public as approach roads to the bridge were yet to be constructed.

The bridge connects Kursa Kanta and Sikty areas of the Araria district.

Talking to PTI, Amit Ranjan, Superintendent of Police (SP), Araria, said, “A portion of a newly constructed bridge over Bakra river has collapsed. Officials have reached there to examine the matter”.

The cause of the incident is not yet known, he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday asserted that the BJP-led central government accomplished in 10 years what the Congress could not do even in 60 years of its rule. Addressing a poll meeting in support of BJP’s West Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Mr Gadkari asked people to vote for BJP if they want pollution-free air and water in the national capital.

“This election, in its truest sense, is for deciding the future of the country. I can tell you what the Congress could not do in 60 years, we did it in 10 years under Modiji. We have come to you with our report card,” he told the gathering.

Praising Sehrawat, he said if people support her, she would work towards development.

“Choose the lotus symbol and the BJP. If you want to see India becoming a ‘vishwa guru’, the world’s third-largest economy and want Delhi to be free from water pollution, noise pollution and air pollution, you should choose BJP. If these three things happen, the life span of Delhiites will increase by 10 years,” he said.

Mr Gadkari said the country does not lack money but honest leaders. “Only under an able leadership will the country prosper,” he added.

Talking about Delhi, he said that if the air pollution issue is addressed, the people’s medical bills will see a reduction.

“Even if I stay in Delhi for three days, I develop infection. There are problems in Delhi — traffic jams, pollution and lack of cleanliness. Nobody thought about addressing these issues in 60 years but only our government thought about Delhi,” he said, highlighting various projects in the national capital funded by the central government.

At another poll meeting in Moti Nagar in support of the party’s New Delhi constituency candidate Bansuri Swaraj, the former BJP chief asserted that India is changing because people gave opportunity to an honest leadership.

Remembering her mother and BJP the late Sushma Swaraj, he said she treated him like her younger brother.

“She stood behind me like a rock. I have two sisters and I consider Sushma ji my third sister. She did great work as Union external affairs minister. She is no longer with us.

“Bansuri is not standing in the polls just because she is Sushma ji’s daughter. Bansuri is educated, knowledgeable, has a vision, is polite and can strengthen your voice and solve your problems,” he added.

BJP National President J P Nadda held a road show in South Delhi Assembly Constituency in support of BJP candidate Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant also joined the campaign trail in Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Nashik, Maharashtra:

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday asserted that no government can change the Constitution drafted by Dr B R Ambedkar, and the Congress was spreading lies that the BJP plans to alter it.

He was speaking at a campaign rally for Hemant Godse of the Shiv Sena, the candidate of the ruling alliance for the Nashik Lok Sabha seat.

“No government can change the Constitution created by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Only its sections can be changed or amended. Congress has committed the sin of amending the Constitution 80 times. Despite that, they are spreading false propaganda that we will change the Constitution,” he said.

“Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas” is the mantra of the Narendra Modi government which has implemented various welfare schemes without discriminating against any community, Mr Gadkari further said.

The government has decided to create facilities for storage and processing of onions and grapes, two major crops in the Nashik region, the minister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the opposition parties were confusing people by claiming that the BJP would change the Constitution if it retained power, but it was the Congress that had brought constitutional amendments 80 times during its rule.

He also alleged that due to the wrong economic policies of the Congress, the people of the country remained poor.

The Minister of Road Transport and Highways was addressing an election rally at Majalgaon town in Maharashtra’s Beed district to drum up support for Pankaja Munde, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Beed Lok Sabha seat candidate.

“Our opposition has failed to convince people. Therefore it is confusing them. They (opposition leaders) say we (BJP) will change the Constitution. But there is a Supreme Court judgment that says the Constitution cannot be changed and only amendments can be made. So far, the Congress has carried out amendments to the Constitution 80 times,” he said.

“We will not stop and continue our work till the last poor person is benefited. People remained poor in this country because of the wrong economic policies of the Congress. We worked for 10 years, but despite being in power for 60 years, the Congress did not do anything. So now, when they cannot contest elections by projecting their work, they are trying to confuse people,” Gadkari said.

Gadkari urged the electorate not to vote based on caste or religion in the election.

“Do we think about the doctor’s caste when we undergo heart surgery? If you vote for Pankaja, only then can you come to me seeking resolution of the issues of ring road, flyover and service roads here,” he said.

Talking about vehicles, he said two-wheelers running on CNG have already been manufactured by several companies.

“The sugar factories will be given the license to establish an ethanol pump for selling fuel for these vehicles. Now, farmers will not only be energy producers, but they will also produce aviation fuel and bio-bitumen out of agricultural waste,” he said.

Beed constituency in the Marathwada region will go to polls on May 13. The main contest is between Munde and NCP (SP) candidate Bajrang Sonawane. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The first phase of polling for the Lok Sabha elections will see voting take place in 102 constituencies, across 21 states and Union Territories, which is close to a fifth of the total seats in the Lower House. While states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar will vote in all seven, voters in all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, all five in Uttarakhand, two seats each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya and one each in Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Lakshadweep will finish casting their ballots on Friday.

Polling will be held in both seats of Manipur, but one of them – Outer Manipur – will vote again in the second phase. As many as 1,625 candidates are in the running. 

Here are some of the key constituencies and faces from the phase:

Nitin Gadkari, Nagpur Constituency

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways will be contesting from the constituency, which was held by the Congress’ Vilas Muttemwar for four terms before 2014. Mr Gadkari has won from the seat – home to the RSS headquarters – twice since then and will be looking to complete his hat-trick this time. The Congress candidate for these elections is Vikas Thakre, the MLA from Nagpur West and a former mayor of the city.

The battle is also between the alliances of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), which is called the ‘Mahayuti’; and the Congress, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), which goes by the name of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Karti Chidambaram, Sivaganga Constituency

The Sivaganga constituency, like much of Tamil Nadu, will see a three-cornered fight. The candidates are the Congress’ Karti Chidambaram, the BJP’s Devanathan Yadav and the AIADMK’s Xavier Dass. Karti Chidambaram won from the constituency in 2019 and his father, P Chidambaram, has held the seat seven times in the past. In 2019, Karti Chidambaram had defeated H Raja of the BJP by a margin of over 3.3 lakh votes.

K Annamalai, Coimbatore Constituency

Tamil Nadu BJP Chief and former IPS officer K Annamalai will contest from the constituency, which was won by the CPM’s PR Natarajan in 2019. He will face off against the AIADMK’s Singal Ramachandran and the DMK’s Ganapathi Rajkumar. Coimbatore is special for the BJP because it was the only Lok Sabha constituency the party had won in 1999 and has failed to open its account in subsequent general elections, barring 2014.

Nakul Nath, Chhindwara Constituency

The Chhindwara constituency is special for the Congress, because it was the only seat in Madhya Pradesh the party had won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with the remaining 28 going to the BJP. It was also one of only two won by the Congress in 2014. Nakul Nath, son of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath, had emerged victorious in the seat by a margin of 37,000 votes in 2019 and will now contest against  Vivek ‘Bunty’ Sahu of the BJP. Kamal Nath has won nine times from the constituency and had defeated Mr Sahu in the 2023 Assembly elections. 

Dayanidhi Maran, Chennai Central Constituency

Veteran DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran will contest against the BJP’s Vinoj Selvam in the Dravidian party’s stronghold of Chennai Central. Mr Maran, a former Union Telecom minister, has won from the constituency thrice, including in 2019. Mr Selvam is the President of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Tamil Nadu and had unsuccessfully contested the 2021 Assembly elections. 

Shimla:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not help during Himachal Pradesh’s worst monsoon disaster but Union minister Nitin Gadkari resolved most of the issues related to the national highways in the state, claimed state Congress chief Pratibha Singh today.

“Himachal faced the worst ever natural disaster during the monsoons but no special financial assistance was given by the Centre. The state government gave Rs 4500-crore package on its own to provide succour to the affected people. This issue would be raised during the elections,” she claimed.

“I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested him for financial help for disaster relief. He said your chief minister had also met me and will do whatever is possible. I was hoping that announcement would come but was disappointed,” Ms Singh, the sitting MP from Mandi Lok Sabha seat, told Press Trust of India.

However, she said Union Minister for Transport and Highways Gadkari was very helpful.

Ms Singh, who had earlier maintained that the workers are demoralised, today said, “The Congress workers are active and fully prepared for the elections and the party will win all the Lok Sabha seats and the assembly byelections in Himachal.”

“We had won the assembly elections and will win the Lok Sabha polls and the assembly byelections on the strength of our workers who would go from door to door and tell about the achievements of the government,” Pratibha Singth, wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh and mother of Himachal Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh, said.

Earlier, Pratibha Singh had refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections claiming that the ground situation is “not favourable” and the Congress workers are disheartened.

However, later she mellowed down when the BJP announced Kangana Ranaut as its candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat and said she would follow the directions of the Congress central leadership.

She also maintained that the people want someone from the Virbhadra’s family to contest this election.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Nagpur:

As part of his ambition to make India a green economy, Union minister Nitin Gadkari wants to slash GST on hybrid vehicles and has vowed to rid the country entirely of the over 36 crore petrol and diesel vehicles.

“One hundred per cent,” Mr Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said when asked whether it is possible for India to get rid of petrol and diesel cars altogether.

“It is difficult but not impossible. This is my vision,” Mr Gadkari said in an interview with the news with PTI.

He said India spends Rs 16 lakh crore on fuel imports. This money will be used for improving the lives of farmers, villages will be prosperous and the youth will get employment, the minister said.

Mr Gadkari did not give any timeline to meet this ambitious target which even proponents of green energy believe is mind-bogglingly difficult.

The proposal to reduce GST on hybrid vehicles to five per cent and to 12 per cent for flex engines has been sent to the Finance ministry which is considering the requisition, Mr Gadkari said.

The minister said he firmly believes the country can end fuel import by promoting the use of biofuels.

Environmental activists welcomed Mr Gadkari’s vision for increasing green mobility, but also struck a word of caution by flagging the use of fossil fuels in the production of electricity.

“In India, we are still heavily dependent on a fossil fuel-based energy system to power electric cars, and this needs to be changed. There is urgent need to ensure 100 per cent renewable energy alongside electric vehicles to tackle the climate crisis,” Avinash Chanchal, a campaigner for Greenpeace India, told PTI.

Mr Gadkari said he has been pitching for alternative fuels since 2004 and is confident things will change in the coming five to seven years.

“I cannot give you a date and year for this transformation to take place as it is very difficult. This is difficult but not impossible,” Mr Gadkari asserted.

He said he firmly believes that given the speed with which electric vehicles are being introduced, the coming era will be of alternative and biofuels and this dream will come true.

Mr Gadkari said auto companies such as Bajaj, TVS and Hero are also planning to manufacture motorcycles using flex engines and auto rickshaws using similar technology too were on the way.

“I roam around in a car that runs on hydrogen. You can see electric cars in every other household. People who used to say this was impossible, have changed their views now and started believing in what I have been saying for the last 20 years,” the minister said.

“Tatas and Ashok Leyland have introduced trucks that run on hydrogen. There are trucks that run on LNG/CNG. There are 350 factories across the country of bio-CNG,” he said.

“Definitely, a revolution is taking place. The fuel imports will end and this country will become self-reliant – Atmanirbhar Bharat. I strongly believe in this,” Mr Gadkari said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Nagpur:

Avowing abiding confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of 370 seats, BJP leader Nitin Gadkari says the additional seats to its current strength of 288 will come from gains in southern India in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In a wide-ranging interview with the news agency PTI at his residence in Nagpur, Mr Gadkari said there is “no doubt” in his mind that the BJP-led NDA will cross 400 seats and that Narendra Modi will take over as prime minister for a third term because of the solid work done by the government in the last 10 years.

He dismissed allegations that the Modi government is “weaponising” central probe agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and CBI to weaken the opposition, saying BJP’s rivals should make efforts to overcome adversity by winning the confidence of the people.

“Is it our responsibility to make the opposition weak or strong? When we had just two MPs and were weak, we never got any package out of sympathy,” Mr Gadkari, who is seeking a third Lok Sabha term from Nagpur, said.

Mr Gadkari launched his campaign with a massive road show on Saturday through Nagpur, his motorcade crawling through a sea of supporters who withstood 40 degrees Celsius temperature to welcome the local hero. The programme, which was to take two hours ended four hours later as supporters covered him with gulal and insisted on offering him snacks every time he stopped.

Mr Gadkari said the BJP emerged stronger over the years due to the sheer hard work of its workers and the opposition too has to make efforts to earn the people’s confidence.

“The nature of democracy is such that this keeps changing. Whatever role you play, you always have to make efforts and overcome adversity. This is important for any opposition party,” he said.

He was also asked to explain the arithmetic of 370 seats for BJP and more than 400 seats for the National Democratic Alliance, given that they have already maxed out in their stronghold states.

“There is no need to make a state-wise analysis. This time we will taste success in the South. The work we have done in the south and the northeast over the last 10 years under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership… we have started getting results of the same,” he said.

“We have worked hard in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. We had very little presence in these states. This time we will do well in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. We have been performing well in north India. So, I feel the BJP will alone get 370 seats and the NDA will cross 400,” Mr Gadkari said.

The senior BJP leader said the people of the country want to see development and have faith in the leadership of PM Modi, which will be reflected in the elections.

To a question on the claims by certain quarters that the BJP will fall short of the majority mark, which in turn could trigger a race for the post of prime minister, Mr Gadkari responded vehemently: “Not at all!”

“We are completely confident that we will get a complete majority and will also cross the 400 mark and Narendra Modi ji will become the country’s prime minister for the third consecutive term. There is no doubt about this in my mind,” he said.

Questioned about his personal agenda for the centenary celebrations of the RSS in 2025, the ideological fountainhead of the BJP, Mr Gadkari said his “personal agenda” was only towards his constituency that has elected him.

“I do not have any personal agenda. RSS will spell out its agenda. Whatever their expectations, it is our responsibility to fulfil them,” he said.

He was also asked if there is lack of level playing field in the elections due to the arrest of opposition leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and the income tax notices amounting to Rs. 3,500 crore on the Congress party.

The Union minister said the law was “taking its own course” and the BJP or the government had nothing to do with it.

“We have not taken any action on our own. The cases have been registered as per the law. This has nothing to do with the BJP or Modi ji. The agencies keep doing their jobs,” Mr Gadkari said.

The senior BJP leader dismissed opposition allegations of the government weaponising the ED, CBI and Income Tax department, which were taking action in cases related to opposition leaders.

“This is completely wrong. We are not weaponising anybody. The law takes its own course. Now, if Rs 300-400 crore are found in anybody’s home, people also see it. Then there is an inquiry. If anyone has done wrong, action is taken. If anybody is aggrieved, they have the option to move court,” he said.

Mr Gadkari was also dismissive about the uproar over the revelations of donations made through electoral bonds and said it was but natural for the BJP, which is the ruling party, to get a major share in the donations.

“Even in television media, those who have greater TRP get a good rate in advertisement. Those who have less TRP, get advertisements at a lower rate. Today, we are the ruling party, hence we got more donations. If tomorrow any other party comes to power, it will get more donations,” he said.

Mr Gadkari said the ground reality was every political party required money and there was need to find a legal way to raise resources.

“I do not wish to say anything as the matter is sub-judice. After the Supreme Court has its say, all political parties should get together. In some countries, the government finances political parties. We will have to look for some options, this is what I feel,” he said.

Mr Gadkari said there is no substance in the opposition’s claims that the BJP is indulging in “washing machine politics” — absolving opposition figures facing corruption charges if they agree to join the party.

“There is no such thing. The law takes its own course. The agencies do their work on the basis of the evidence they gather. This allegation is completely wrong and baseless. No such work takes place,” he said, responding to opposition allegations of BJP being a “great washing machine”.

On the CBI clean chit to NCP leader Praful Patel in the Air India corruption case, Mr Gadkari said the action had nothing to do with the BJP or the prime minister.

“The truth came out in the inquiry,” he said.

Mr Gadkari recalled former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s remarks on remaining true to the ideology and the principles of the party when asked about any advice to the opposition to revive itself.

“Having a difference of opinion is necessary for a democracy. But the real problem is having no opinion. (Aaj hamarey desh mein mat bhinnata yeh loktantra ke liye awashyak bhi hai. Usmey problem nahi hai. Para mat shunyata yeh hamari samasya hai.) Whatever party you are in and its ideology, it is important to stand by it with conviction – in victory or in defeat,” he said.

“I remember when I entered politics against the Emergency and started working with Jayprakash ji, the conditions were not favourable for us. But we kept on working in adverse conditions and one day Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister. Today, Modi has ruled the country for the last 10 years. Sure, the people give you an opportunity, but you have to have patience and work hard,” Mr Gadkari said.

Mr Gadkari who won with a margin of more than two lakh seats in the 2019 elections said his goal this time is to win by a five lakh margin. He said he is confident of getting minority and Dalit votes this time. Pitted against him is Vikas Thakre of the Congress, a former mayor of Nagpur who also has good grassroots connect with people.

BJP won 303 seats on its own in the 2019 elections but its tally in the outgoing Lok Sabha is now 288. This follows some bypoll losses and resignations of some MPs after they recently moved to state assemblies. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)