Praising Union Minister and Nagpur MP Nitin Gadkari, Maharashtra minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Sunday said that he is the right man in the wrong party. But his power as a minister is being continuously curtailed, Ashok Chavan said.
On being asked whether he had any favourite minister in the union government, Ashok Chavan said good can be said about Nitin Gadkari who, despite having ideological differences, maintains "dialogue with other parties".
"He [Nitin Gadkari] is the right man in the wrong party. He has a positive approach towards Maharashtra but his powers are being continuously curtailed,” Chavan said not elaborating more on his assertion.
Addressing media persons via video conferencing, Chavan said, "I often talk about Nitin Gadkari. I had praised him the day before yesterday. He is an efficient minister. There are many issues which are related to the basic amenities and infrastructure of Maharashtra. Gadkari takes those subjects seriously. I publicly praise his way of working either by writing articles or via tweets. But praising him does not mean that I support him politically. After all, he is a minister in the NDA government.”
On Sunday, the NDA government was celebrating two completion of seven years in office Congress leader Ashok Chavan attacked the Centre over several issues, including unemployment, and said it failed to handle the Covid pandemic effectively. He alleged that the centre has taken all decision making powers into its hands and now it’s blaming the states after Covid cases went out of control.
"The price of petrol had reached Rs 100 per litre. Some 12.21 core people have lost their jobs. The per capita income of Bangladesh is now higher than that of India. The policies of the Centre have devastated the country," claimed Chavan.
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He also alleged that the Centre had a discriminatory attitude towards Maharashtra on all fronts, citing the Maratha quota issue, and urged the ruling party at the Centre to find a solution after the Supreme Court, on May 5, annulled a state law granting reservations in jobs and education to the community.