Responding to a question on writers and artists returning their awards, Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said, “A litterateur was killed in Karnataka; there was a lynching in Dadri.
Responding to a question on writers and artists returning their awards, Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said, “A litterateur was killed in Karnataka; there was a lynching in Dadri. There is a Congress government in Karnataka and a Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. However, the awards are being returned in protest against BJP. What hypocrisy is this When there were serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, why didn’t they return their awards When there was violence in Punjab, why didn’t they return their awards Ever since the BJP has come to power and Narendra Modi has become prime minister, if any incident happens anywhere in the country, these people make the bill in Mr Modi’s name”.
Law and order is a state subject, Mr Gadkari added, and if anyone wanted to protest they should protest against the respective state governments.
The minister, who is an MP from Nagpur, also stressed that the government remains committed to its mantra of “sabka saath, sabka vikas”.
He claimed that infrastructure projects had picked up pace and said there were 283 projects that were stuck when he took office, mainly for environment clearances, land acquisition, and issues such as right of way involving railway bridges. Between 90 and 95 per cent of these projects were now underway, Mr Gadkari said.
He also said that in the previous government an environment minister had not cleared any project for two and a half years.
“We need development and environment but when I was (PWD) minister here in Mumbai, the English papers were constantly opposing the Bandra-Worli Sealink project saying it would destroy Babasaheb Ambedkar’s things, that it would harm fishermen, that there would be no fish”, he said.
He described the erstwhile opponents of the Sealink as “a microscopic minority, those who have eccentric views”, and said they were “supported by some part of the English press”.
“We need an integrated approach, for development and environment. I am in favour of ecology and the environment but any eccentric approach should be avoided,” he said.
Mr Gadkari said that ecology and the environment are important, but we are also facing problems of poverty and unemployment.
He recalled that there were 125 petitions against the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The resulting delays increased the project cost, he said. The Bandra Worli cost also increased due to delays. “So now you have to pay the tolls for the rest of your lives”, Mr Gadkari said.
