Manage family first, says Nitin Gadkari

Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari said party workers should fulfil their domestic obligations first because those who cannot do that “cannot manage the country”.

He was speaking at a gathering of former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad workers in Nagpur on Saturday.

“I meet many people who say they want to devote their lives for the BJP, for the country,” Mr Gadkari said.

“I asked one such person what he does and who all are there in his family. He said he has a wife and children and has shut his shop as it was not doing well. I asked him to first take care of his home, because one who cannot manage his home cannot manage the country. First manage your home and look after your children properly, only then work for the party and country.”

The statement is being seen as yet another apparent salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the BJP’s defeat in the recently-concluded Assembly polls in three states, Mr Gadkari had said that leaders should accept the responsibility of the party’s defeat and failures.

The minister’s recent statements are seen as attempts to push his claims to become Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha polls if Mr Modi does not get the requisite majority.

Mr Gadkari has always denied that he was in the race for prime ministership.