In image v reality, Gadkari owes his job to 'Gen-next leader' status

New Delhi, Jan 24:
Claiming that his ascent to the BJP's top slot was in his capacity as a 'gen-next leader', party president Nitin Gadkari today sought to dismiss the impression that he was propelled to the post following pressure from the RSS.
Mr Gadkari, who took over the national presidentship of the party from Rajnath Singh last month, tried to explain the 'image v/s reality' factor in his elevation.
''I was asked by Mr Advani and Mr Rajnath Singh two months ago if I would accept the job as the next BJP President.'' "Being a democratic party, they wanted a new and next generation person for the post and not anyone because of family background", he said in a television interview.
During his discussions with the RSS leadership, they had revealed that his elevation was 'BJP's own decision' and they had no role in it. Like many in the BJP, he owed his nurtured career to the RSS as a 'core swayamsevak' but the two organisations worked independently of each other with the common goal -- national development.
Hailing from Nagpur, the RSS headquarters, he knew that the RSS leaders were 'true democrats'. RSS for him was a 'life commitment', having been positively influenced by its ideals and policies right from his student days, he said.
His priority was to make development the core plank of the BJP to enable the party to catch up with the Congress, which was ahead of the it in terms of voter base with a 10 per cent edge.
The party, Mr Gadkari said, would look at Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minorities and the unorganised section of workers to achieve expansion of its social base.
Being a leader who had ensured development doses working wonders in achieving the goal of 'antyoday' -- the uplift of the poorest sections of the society, he said he would make efforts to blend development with cultural nationalism that included Hindutva, a misunderstood concept due to 'media interpretation'.
The right interpretation was given by the Supreme Court, Mr Gadkari said.
Development-centric politics will have to make India a strong economic superpower, the BJP leader said.
To a question if he was getting support from his senior and experienced leaders like L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Aruj Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar, Mr Gadkari said they were all taking care of him as 'guardians'.
Asked if he felt like a 'little child' because of his lack of experience, he replied "they treat me as a president and I respect them as experienced leaders.'' He said his inexperience in national politics might make him commit 'bonafide but not malafide' mistakes and he would learn with experience and cooperation from party elders.
In his office for less than a month now, he was able to bring about a solution for the party bickerings in Rajasthan.
''We have almost resolved the crisis holding talks with leaders like Vasundhara Raje and state BJP Chief Arun Chaturvedi,'' he said but declined to give out details.
"Being a democratic party, we will sort our differences within the party's four walls", he said.
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