In this episode of HW News Managing Editor Sujit Nair takes a closer look at Nitin Gadkari - what he says, his ministry's progress, poor road quality on newly-built highways, and the flak over E20. Mr. Nair raises a pertinent question - is the senior BJP leader heading the Dharmendra Pradhan way in terms of resignation due to public pressure?
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[00:00:00] Nitin Gadkari who always aspired to be the Pradhan Mantri of our country is en route to become Dharmendra Pradhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Chances are the next resignation.
[00:00:21] Namaskar! Welcome to another episode of Editorial. There is a very strange question that I have been pondering on for the last couple of days. And that question is, is Gadkari, Nitin Gadkari trying desperately, desperately to pull down the Bharatiya Janata Party stroke Modi government?
[00:00:46] Now I know what I am saying may be slightly exaggerated. I know all of that. But look at it. Look at it. Nitin Gadkari has been making statements which are literally annoying people, especially during all this need paper leak and all of that. He is making statements about E20 which are annoying people because what he does not understand is
[00:01:11] Bharatiya Janata Party doesn't have the kind of clout or doesn't have the kind of clout they may be having maybe much more clout in the parliament than they had before. But the fact remains that they don't have that same clout. They cannot defect people to their side. So they don't have the same clout, the popularity on ground in India today. And over and above all this, Nitin Gadkari has been making statements after statements about E20, so on and so forth.
[00:01:40] Secondly, I think Nitin Gadkari has this thing about himself that he is possibly one of the best ministers in the country. He is possibly one of the most efficient ministers in the country. He has made statements that, you know, Dubai King wanted him for six months and you know, take him to Dubai. God, my God, what would have happened had Dubai King actually taken him to Dubai for six months?
[00:02:03] Well, Dubai would have been like our roads at the moment. So that is what would have happened. But he has this feeling, you know, he made a statement that he's worth 200 crores because that's how intelligent he is and all of that.
[00:02:15] I'll take you through some some headlines. Okay, headlines last one year. This these headlines will give us a clear picture of what Nitin Gadkari thinks about himself, what the reality is, and how this reality could come to bite Baratya Janata Party and Modi administration very soon.
[00:02:34] Okay, let's talk about June 2025. June 2025. Nitin Gadkari says Indian roads will be similar to that of America in two years. This is what Mr. Nitin Gadkari said. Okay, and in July of 2026, road surface caved in Delhi Dehradun Express near UP's Shamli after first monsoon less than three months after PM inaugurated it.
[00:03:02] The cost of the road was 12000 crores. The road caved in. Now this caving in of roads, this is not new. This is not the first. There are so many instances I'm sure my production must be showing you the caved roads, the crack roads, the broken roads, the broken bridges. There are so many, so many that has happened. And this is what Nitin Gadkari has done. And what Nitin Gadkari says is I will make Indian roads as good as American roads or Indian roads will be as good as American roads.
[00:03:32] He said it in 2025. He said it in 2025. Which means by 2027 we should have American roads. Well, as of today, our roads are whatever is made two months ke baad it is caving in.
[00:03:43] And similarly, there are some other headlines that I will take you through. 29th July 2026, he says he sacked 11 road ministry officials over highway collapsed. 11 ministry officials were sacked. The point is he sacks people. Like he said, it is the contractor's fault. It is the worker's fault. It is the official's fault. End of the day, it is never his fault. It is never Mr. Nitin Gadkari's fault. It is always others' fault.
[00:04:10] He would want to advise the president, the king of Saudi Arabia. But you know the problem when it is success, it is all his. When there is failure, it is all other people's failure.
[00:04:22] It is all other people's failure. This is what has been happening for the last one year. And you know what? I too, let me also tell you, I too was a huge fan of Nitin Gadkari. I also, whatever he was claiming, whatever he was saying, I also thought in the last 7, 8, 10 years of his tenure that you know he was good.
[00:04:41] But then, one started seeing the results, the actual results and the way he would inaugurate or the prime minister of course here would come and inaugurate and the way it would the infrastructure would collapse or get damaged or cave in or whatever.
[00:04:58] This, when the results started appearing is when we actually saw what was happening actually on ground. So, going further, July 2026, 629 national highway project behind schedule. Gadkari tells parliament.
[00:05:14] These are some of the statements that he has made. So, at one end, he feels we are as good as America. On one end, he feels that the king of Saudi Arabia wants him there. And on the other end, everything that he has produced is either behind schedule, either collapsing, either caving in, either getting damaged. That's the condition. That's the condition. This is reality.
[00:05:36] Fine. And also, what's happening is every fault is somebody else's fault. It is the official's fault. It is the ministry official's fault. It is the contractor's fault. Nothing should stick to him. This is the real gadkari that we are actually seeing. At least that's what's coming through. That's what's coming through. You see, let's talk about another very important case which I think is more in trending now than the highway. The ethanol.
[00:06:03] Let me also share a few headlines with you. July 15, 2026. Don't want E20 fuel. Buy 100% petrol but pay more. Threatening the consumers. E20 then you pay more. Buy 100% petrol. Why? Why? And why should Nitin Gadkari decide? Let it be. If you can't give a better alternative just because you have to give an alternative,
[00:06:30] any alternative is not an alternative. Any alternative is a force fit. Alternative is when it is good, it is viable. E20, to whatever extent we are seeing it, it is not viable because not me, he himself has said it. Some vehicles made before 2016 may need minor changes for E20, says Nitin Gadkari.
[00:06:52] That means if my vehicle is bought before 2016 and I am not a rich person, I don't have ethanol factories and I am not a minister and I am not a big person. If I have vehicles which are before 2016, then my vehicle, I have to do changes. Why? Because Mr. Nitin Gadkari said so. Because Mr. Nitin Gargari wants to launch his half-baked ethanol E20 in the market. Is that fair? Do you think the voters are going to accept this? Are you willing to accept this?
[00:07:22] Are you okay if your car gets spoiled? You see, India needs to curb on its fuel. There is no doubt about it and nobody will say no. But the answer to that or the solution to that is not therefore spoil all the vehicles. That means the answer to curbing fuel should be stop driving. Don't take your vehicles, burn all your vehicles and that's it. That also could be a solution then. Because this is more or less like that. If you use ethanol, a lot of people are complaining that there are problems with their vehicle.
[00:07:52] That is what a lot of people are complaining. But then the minister says, okay, you'll have to do some tweaking. Now, another point. If somebody is objecting to what he says, somebody is not kind of in tune with what he says, aligned with what he says, there could be FIRs against him. At least that is what is proposed. FIR against contents creators for defamatory posts about Nitin Gargari.
[00:08:17] The complaint was filed in Nagpur-based BJP office bearer named Shishir Arun Tripathi. The Nagpur Cyber Police have registered a first information report against several social media content creators for allegedly running a defamatory online campaign against union minister for road transport and highway Nitin Gadkari, which is what the ANI reported. Now, this is another story. So, A, you are the transport minister, but you are very keen on making, forming policies for petrol.
[00:08:47] You are pushing E20, which is A, I think too early and too less research. This is my point of view to be pushed to the market. It is incidentally causing problems for the vehicles in India. And yet you are pushing it in the market. There are instances where people have come and said that it is, it is spoiling their vehicles. It is, it is reducing their mileage. But yet you are insisting that you are, you have to push it through.
[00:09:16] Okay, you bought the manufacturers, you bought a lot of people to support you. But end of the day, no manufacturer is willing to come out and say that, listen, if something happens to my vehicle because of E20, I am willing to repair it and give it to you. No manufacturer is supposed to, is willing to do that. So, lip service they are giving, but nobody is putting their money where their mouth is. That too is happening. How fair is this?
[00:09:45] How fair is this? Now, I understand certain content creators go beyond their brief. Certain content creators, you know, go deep fakes and all. That is wrong. I accept that. But the point is, that does not mean that you don't accept the fact that there is a problem. You don't accept the fact that there is a problem. This is why I say that somewhere down the line, is Nitin Gadkari hellbent on ensuring that Bharatiya Janata Party's image is completely bought down to the ground?
[00:10:16] Narendra Modi's image is bought down to the ground. Narendra Modi anyway is going through a lot of problems. Is he adding to the problem? Because he doesn't seem to be backing out. He doesn't seem to be going slow on this. He is pushing his policies. And like I said, it is no longer that conducive that the way it is used to be for Bharatiya Janata Party where everything would be fine, where everything would be done if just because Mr. Modi says it and all. That's not going to happen. Things have changed.
[00:10:46] Okay. Let me also talk about, like I said, what Mr. Nitin Gadkari thinks about himself. Which is also very strange because what is happening, what he has achieved and what he thinks about himself are two different things. Mr. Nitin Gadkari, September 2025, says that my brain is worth 200 crores. I earn honestly, he says. And again, like I said, again, like I said, what reality is and what Nitin Gadkari thinks about himself, there is no match.
[00:11:15] Reality is, everything is just falling apart. And what Nitin Gadkari thinks that his brain is worth 200 crores. So, somewhere down the line, I think this is a very interesting aspect. This is a very interesting situation which Bharatiya Janata Party is in and Mr. Nitin Gadkari is in. This is going to take a larger dimension. This is going to be the next Dharmendra Pradhan issue in this country. Let us be very sure about it.
[00:11:41] Somewhere down the line, I think Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Narendra Modi and most importantly Mr. Nitin Gadkari should understand that the government is for the people. The government is not somebody who rules the people. The government is somebody who works for the people. If the people do not believe that ethanol is good for them, it is not good for them.
[00:12:02] The question of you debating and forcing and threatening and saying that otherwise you pay more and all of this and then saying that, you know, I am doing all this for the benefit of the people. This is what we call as infantilization. Infantilization, treating others like infant, treating the country like infant. So, this has to end someday. And currently, I think, my personal view is Mr. Gadkari is pushing this, pushing this beyond what is the fair limit.
[00:12:32] He is pushing this beyond that. Nitin Gadkari, who always aspired to be the Pradhan Mantri of our country, is en route to become Dharmendra Pradhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Chances are, the next resignation that people would seek is his. This is the point I wanted to make. I see you next time. That's tomorrow at 10. Namaskar.