Nagpur: Addressing the convocation ceremony of Central India Group of Institutions in Nagpur, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari expressed his strong views against caste-based politics. Gadkari said a person’s greatness was determined by qualities and not by caste, religion, or gender.
The leader also stated that he would not compromise on this principle even if the same harms him in contesting polls. The minister said that he had once told a gathering, “Jo karega jaat ki baat, usko kas ke marunga laat (I will kick hard anyone who talks about caste.)”
“When Dr Abdul Kalam became nuclear scientist, he achieved so much that his name reached everyone across the world,” he exemplified, adding that he will not discriminate against anyone based on caste, sect, religion, language, or sex.
📍𝑵𝒂𝒈𝒑𝒖𝒓 | Addressing convocation ceremony of Central India Group of Institutions https://t.co/8Q9SOcEsC4
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) March 15, 2025
“My friends told me I may face setbacks due to this stand. But I am not concerned about it. Does anyone die if he loses an election,” he said, claiming that he will always stick to his principle.
He went on to highlight that education was very important. “Education does not just benefit you and your family. It develops the society and the nation,” he told the gathering.
The minister also shared anecdotes from his life and explained why he doesn’t prefer to add ‘Dr’ before his name. “I have 12 D.Litt degrees, but I don’t use the ‘Dr’ title. My story was… Emergency began in 1975 when I was in Class 11. I started working against the Emergency, my studies were affected and I did not qualify for engineering. So a person who could not qualify for engineering, how can he be a doctorate? So I don’t use the title.”
