'I am loyal to...': Nitin Gadkari reveals why he turned down offer for Prime Minister's position

Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari has revealed why he turned down an offer for the Prime Minister's post from a political leader, stressing that he was 'loyal to his conviction and the organisation'. 

He was addressing the media fraternity at late Anil Kumar Patrakarita Puraskar Samaroh organised by Vidarbha Gaurav Pratishthan in Nagpur, Maharashtra. 

"I do not want to name anyone but a person said to me, if you are going to become a Prime Minister, we will support you. I said, why you should support me, and why I should take your support. To become a Prime Minister is not the aim in my life. I am loyal to my conviction and organisation and I am not going to compromise for any post because my conviction is most important to me. I think that this conviction is the biggest strength of Indian democracy", ANI has quoted Nitin Gadkari as saying. 

The Union Minister further emphasised the significance of ethics in a democracy and added, "Democracy will be successful only when all four pillars--the judiciary, executive, legislature and media--follow ethics."

It is pertinent to note that when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered massive victories in both 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gadkari's name for the Prime Minister's post was doing rounds. According to the 'Mood of the nation' survey by India Today ahead of the LS polls 2024, 16% of the selected respondents backed Gadkari for the Prime Minister's post. 

Regarded as one of the most popular leaders in the saffron party, Nitin Gadkari won the Nagpur constituency for a consecutive third time in 2024. He is a BJP stalwart and is currently serving as Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.

He took the charge as the Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Minister of Shipping in May 2014.

Gadkari won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Nagpur constituency by an impressive margin of 1,37,603 votes. Notably, the BJP leader's winning margin saw a dip by 78,397 votes in 2024 elections.

The Union Minister had defeated his nearest rival and Congress leader Nana Patole by 2,16,000 votes in 2019. When he was first fielded from Nagpur in 2014, he won by a huge margin of 2,84,828 votes.

With inputs from ANI.