Nitin Gadkari

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Adamgerber80 (talk | contribs) at 04:51, 26 October 2017 (Reverted 1 edit by 2405:204:724F:C695:DF9F:9904:5FDE:4800 (talk) to last revision by Sitush. (TW)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Gadkari
Minister of Road Transport and Highways
Assumed office
26 May 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byOscar Fernandes
Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
Assumed office
3 September 2017
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byUma Bharti
Minister of Shipping
Assumed office
26 May 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byG. K. Vasan
President of Bharatiya Janata Party
In office
1 January 2010 – 22 January 2013
Preceded byRajnath Singh
Succeeded byRajnath Singh
Minister for PWD, Maharashtra
In office
1995–1999
Minister of Rural Development
In office
4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byGopinath Munde
Succeeded byChaudhary Birender Singh
Minister of Panchayati Raj
In office
4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byGopinath Munde
Succeeded byChaudhary Birender Singh
Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation
In office
4 June 2014 – 9 November 2014
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byGopinath Munde
Succeeded byChaudhary Birender Singh
Member of the Indian Parliament
for Nagpur
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded byVilas Muttemwar
ConstituencyNagpur
Majority2,84,828 (26.25%)
Personal details
Born (1957-05-27) 27 May 1957 (age 66)
Nagpur, Bombay State (present-day Maharashtra), India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
SpouseKanchan
Children3
Alma materNagpur University
OccupationLawyer, Industrialist
Websitenitingadkari.org

Nitin Jairam Gadkari pronunciationⓘ; (born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician and the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in the Government of India.[1] Gadkari earlier served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2010-2013.[2] He is also known for the works during his tenure as a Public Works Department Minister in the state of Maharashtra when he constructed a series of roads, highways and flyovers across the state including the Yashwantrao Chavan Mumbai–Pune Expressway.[3]

Background, family and education

Nitin Gadkari was born in Nagpur, India. During his teens, he worked for the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the student union Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. He completed M.Com. and L.L.B. from University of Nagpur.[4] Gadkari is married to Kanchan Gadkari and they have three children.[5]

Political career

Nitin Gadkari[6] served as the Minister of Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of Maharashtra from 1995 to 1999 and restructured it from top to bottom.[7] He has served as the president of the Maharashtra BJP.[8]

Gadkari strongly supported privatisation while he campaigned for investments in infrastructure from private firms. He addressed several meetings between private investors, contractors, builders and various trade organisations and diverted large amounts of budgeted projects towards privatisation. Subsequently, the state government allocated Rs. 7 billion for rural connectivity. Over the next 4 years, all-weather road connectivity in Maharashtra was extended to 98% of the population. The project aimed to connect 13,736 remote villages which remained unconnected since independence by road.[citation needed]. It also helped ameliorate malnutrition in remote Melghat-Dharni area of Amravati district, which previously had no access to medical aid, ration or educational facilities.

The Union Government appointed him as the Chairman of National Rural Road Development Committee. After a series of meetings and studies, Gadkari submitted his report to the central government and gave the presentation to the Hon. Prime Minister of India. His new report was accepted and a new rural road connecting scheme now popularly known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was launched. The ambitious scheme is of ₹600 billion.[9][10]

Just before the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, Election Commission of India on 6 October 2014 issued a show cause notice to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for "statements to the effect of inducing the voters to take bribe" during campaigning in Maharashtra assembly polls. According to the English translation of the speech made by the former BJP president in Marathi, he had allegedly said: "Now, I am watching your faces and I have some skill of predicting the future by way of face reading. You have an opportunity of "Laxmi darshan" in next 10 days. Special people to get foreign made, ordinary people to get local brand. All are Gandhivadis asking for Rs. 5000. In these days of inflation, keep one thing in mind, eat what you wish and drink what you desire. Keep whatever you get. This is the time when illegally earned money can go to poor. Therefore, do not say no to Laxmi. But think while you vote. Your vote should be for the development of Maharashtra."

The Election Commission said his statement amounts to "abetting and promoting the electoral offence of bribery" within the meaning of Section 171 B read with Section 17l E of the IPC as it includes offering food, drink or entertainment.[11]

Positions served

As PWD Minister, Maharashtra, 1996-99

As PWD Minister of Maharashtra, Gadkari played a crucial rule in expediting the construction of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway[16] and having it built in a little over 2 years.

The idea to build a road which takes travel between Mumbai and Pune to less than 3 hours was first conceived by Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray.

In 1990, the Government of Maharashtra appointed the RITES Limited and Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick companies to carry out feasibility studies for the new expressway to be operated on a toll basis. RITES submitted their report in 1994 with the estimated cost of project at ₹11.46 billion (US$170 million).

However, It was only after Gadkari took over as PWD Minister[17] that the construction of this project was fast-tracked. Gadkari entrusted the work of the construction of Mumbai-Pune expressway to MSRDC in March 1997 on Build-Operate-Transfer basis with permission to collect toll for 30 years. The environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India was received on 13 October 1997. The Forest Clearance was received on 11 November 1997.

The tender notice[18] was published in leading newspapers all over India and also on the Internet. Due to the wide publicity, 133 tenders were sold and on 18 December 1997, 55 tenders were received. After technical and financial evaluation, tenders were accepted and work orders were given on 1 January 1998 to four contractors. Thereafter tenders for widening of the Khandala and Lonavala-Khandala bypass works were invited. The tenders were received on 24 August 1998 and orders were issued on 4 September 1998.

The first sections of the Expressway opened in 2000, and the entire route was completed, opened to traffic and made fully operational from April 2002.

The other major achievement of Gadkari as state minister[19] was the construction of 55 flyovers in Mumbai, which eased the city traffic problems significantly.

As President of BJP, 2009-2013

Gadkari was appointed president of the BJP in December 2009. This was considering a tough phase for the BJP as the party had lost two successive Lok Sabha elections and needed a quick revamp.[20]

As party president, right from the start, Gadkari made his agenda very clear. He focused almost entirely on the ‘politics of development’. In his book, “India Aspires” [21] co-authored with leading Indian author Tuhin Sinha,[22] Gadkari spells out his development ideas for the country in great detail. Increased institutional support to green energy, alternate fuel and effective waste management hold special importance in Gadkari’s development plan. At a time when the country was plagued with the problem of policy paralysis under the UPA, Gadkari's proactive approach towards development, set a new and positive agenda for the country's politics.[23]

As party president, Gadkari, re-emphasized on legendary Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhya’s principles of Integrated Humanism and Antodaya. At the same time, various cells [24][25] were constituted within the party to regularly monitor the develop work undertaken by various BJP state governments and to come up with new policy inputs.

Gadkari resigned as party president in January 2013.[citation needed]

2014 Lok Sabha election

Gadkari contested 2014 Loksabha election successfully from Nagpur constituency and won. He defeated Congress leader Vilas Muttemwar by margin of 285,000.

Industrial career

Nitin Gadkari does not consider himself a career politician.[26] He is known to control these establishments in the following way;

  • Poly sack Industrial Society Ltd – Founder and chairman.[12]
  • Nikhil Furniture and Appliances Pvt. Ltd – Promoter and Director.[12]
  • Antyodaya Trust – Founder and Member[12]
  • Empress Employees Co-operative Paper Mills Ltd – Founder and chairman.[12]
  • Purti Power and Sugar Ltd / Purti Sakhar Karkhana Ltd – Promoter[27]

Gadkari is also an agriculturist. He has not only promoted but also has major interests in the fields of Water Management, Solar Energy Projects and the use of modern tools in agriculture. Recently, he started exporting fruits to various countries under the banner Ketaki overseas Trading Company.[12]

In Total 17 Sugar Plants were started in Vidarbha regions, and a Sugar plant is considered to be the best industry in terms of local economic development (that is the reason why the district with highest per capita income is Solapur with the 17 sugar industries). However Vidarbha now has just three plants functioning, and all of those three plants are of Purti group, a Sugar Factory is not a profitable industry, but it is a major step to boost the local economy where the cash directly rises in the hand of the farmer. Sugar cane produces bagasse and molasses – where bagasse is used for power production and molasses is used for Ethanol (Alcohol) production, while the other waste products produce bio fertilizers. Purti group has brought enormous development in the catchment area. The whole thing started with a genius idea of Social entrepreneurship, Co-operative general stores (Purti Super Bazaar) is just an example. Purti group also carried out many social welfare projects such as making 100+ villages self-sufficient by solar energy in Melghat region of Vidarbha (which is the most under developed region), 2000+ Heart surgeries, assisting locals with Solar Rickshaws and much more.

Nitin Gadkari floated the Purti Power and Sugar Ltd (now Purti Group) in 1995,[28] when he started as PWD minister in Maharashtra. In 2012, after the companies came into the media glare based on irregularities unearthed by RTI activist Anjali Damania, the Income Tax department investigated a number of firms that had invested in Purti, and found more than a dozen of these to be bogus addresses.[29] Another three investing firms were found co-located with the Somani Group, but no one knew of these firms.[30]

In 2010, when the Purti group had incurred losses of Rs. 640 million,[31] the firm IRB, which had obtained hefty road contracts under Gadkari's term as PWD minister, loaned the group Rs. 1.64 billion, which was higher than Purthi's turnover of Rs. 1.45 billion. When questioned on Marathi channel IBN-Lokmat, about why he did not avail a loan from banks, Gadkari explained that the balance sheets of the company were not in a suitable state, so he had requested his friend Dattatray to help him out.[32] Also, Gadkari's son Nikhil was allegedly a director with IRB at the time. Gadkari argued that there was nothing wrong in having contractors invest in one's firms,[33] but opposition leaders have argued that all this suggests a quid pro quo for political favours granted by Gadkari.[34]

The news of these allegations broke a few months before Gadkari was to seek re-election as president of the BJP. At the time, Gadkari was to address several rallies for the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2012. India Today reported that BJP leader Shanta Kumar had suggested that Gadkari's presence was "affecting BJP's anti-corruption campaign."[35] Subsequently, Gadkari cancelled his scheduled rallies at Bilaspur and Solan on 30 October.

In early 2013, in the elections for BJP president, for which Gadkari was "close to clinching a second innings"[36] his chances unravelled with several senior leaders suggesting that the I-T indictment of the Purti groups investments had damaged his image,[37] and Gadkari was not re-elected.[38] Gadkari told the Times of India that he was stepping down until the inquiry proved him innocent.[39] Some RSS functionaries have suggested that his exit was the result of infighting.[40] Subsequently, Gadkari threatened the I-T officers, saying "when our party comes to power, there would be no Chidambaram or Sonia to save them (IT officials)".[41] The I-T officers association took umbrage at these remarks and demanded an apology.[42]

Eventually, in May 2013, the Income Tax department assessed that Gadkari's firms had evaded Rs. 70 million via such benami investments and other practices. On April 30. 2014, then Congress union Minister Manish Tewari apologised to Nitin Gadkari when he was dragged in to a defamation suit by the latter. This apology was based on the judicial commission mention that Gadkari had played no role or had no concern with the scam.[43] On May 13, 2014 the IT department of Maharashtra cleared Nitin Gadkari's name and gave him a clean chit saying there is no enquiry/investigation presently pending.[32][44] [44] [45]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rajnath steps down, Gadkari takes over as BJP president". The Times of India.
  2. ^ "Profile: Nitin Gadkari". BBC News. 23 January 2013.
  3. ^ "BJP's new chief seen as moderniser".
  4. ^ "Cabinet reshuffle: Modi government's got talent but is it being fully utilised?", The Economic Times, 10 July 2016
  5. ^ "For wedding of Nitin Gadkari's daughter, 50 chartered flights to ferry guests to Nagpur". The Indian Express. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Elections 2014: Why was Gadkari left out of Modi's rally posters?". Mid_Day. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  7. ^ Gadkari emerges as front-runner for post
  8. ^ "Nitin Gadkari takes over as new BJP chief, Rajnath steps down". MSN India. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  9. ^ "Nitin Gadkari wants Ganga – Cauvery Link of national rivers!". Agricultureinformation.com. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  10. ^ [1] [verification needed] Archived 31 December 2003 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Maharashtra polls: Gadkari promises voters 'saris, shirts'; EC issues notice". IBNLive.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Nitin Gadkari | Nagpur News, Blogs, Jobs, Events, Classifieds, Travel, Education and Business Directory". Nagpurpulse.com. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  13. ^ BJP official site Archived 29 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Biography for Nitin Gadkari". Silobreaker. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Kumar, Devesh (20 December 2009). "Features". The Times of India.
  16. ^ "He made Pune expressway a reality". hindustantimes. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  17. ^ "Nitin Gadkari: Minister of Road Transport and Highways, and Shipping". Indiatoday. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  18. ^ "One-man band". Telegraph. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Nitin Gadkari – flyover man". Hindu. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  20. ^ "BJP's focus is on development, socio-economic reform, and nationalism: Nitin Gadkari". the hindu. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  21. ^ "THIS ONE HAS WALKED THE TALK". the pioneer. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  22. ^ "'Author' Gadkari spells out his aspirations". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  23. ^ "Shri Nitin Gadkari speech on good governance and development - Economic Activity Cell". Youtube. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  24. ^ "BJP creates Governance Cell, makes Goa ex-CM convenor". Indiatoday. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  25. ^ "Gadkari prescribes e-governance to battle corruption". Firstpost. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  26. ^ PTI (19 December 2009). "Rajnath steps down, Gadkari takes over as BJP president". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  27. ^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/gadkari-under-cag-fire-for-rs-49-crore-purti-loan-cong-wants-his-ouster/story-2UMpVMfLW1NBo8M44Ks5TL.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ^ "Purti Group".
  29. ^ Aditi Raja (9 November 2012). "I-T noose tightens around Nitin Gadkari, finds most of the addresses of investors in Purti group to be bogus". India Today.The Income Tax department, which had recently raided and searched the premises of various companies associated with the Purti group, [said in a report] that these 'shell companies' are 'fake' or 'non-existent'.
  30. ^ Sandeep Ashar; Rajshri Mehta (23 October 2012). "Mysterious investors in Gadkari's group share 'fake' addresses". Times of India. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)quote: Vidya Buildcon Private Ltd, Sanobar Infrastructure and Roller Multitrade — are all registered in an office on the second floor of Shree Niwas House... This was the headquarters of various companies belonging to the well-known Somani Group. Members of the Somani family and their employees present in the premises denied any knowledge regarding these firms.
  31. ^ "Gadkari denies allegations of murky dealings". The Hindu. 21 October 2012.
  32. ^ a b Will BJP president Nitin Gadkari get his second term in office? (26 October 2012). "In the Wrong Business". Kiran Tare and Bhavna Vij-Aurora.
  33. ^ Sreenivasan Jain; Miloni Bhatt; Abhinav Bhatt (20 October 2012). "Nothing wrong in getting investments from contractors: Nitin Gadkari tells NDTV". NDTV.
  34. ^ Krishna Kumar; Aditya Menon (16 October 2012). "Past returns to haunt BJP chief Nitin Gadkari". Daily Mail UK. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ Bhavna Vij-Aurora (25 January 2013). "The burden of Gadkari". India Today.
  36. ^ "Nitin Gadkari: an ex-president of BJP trying to make Lok Sabha debut". NDTV. 28 March 2014.
  37. ^ BS Reporter (22 January 2013). "BJP dumps Nitin Gadkari, gives Rajnath Singh his job".
  38. ^ "BJP drops Nitin Gadkari, says Rajnath Singh to be president".
  39. ^ "What led to Nitin Gadkari's resignation as BJP president?". [Times of India].
  40. ^ Pavan Dahat (30 January 2013). "Gadkari's exit was due to internal political conspiracy, says Vaidya". The Hindu.
  41. ^ pti (24 January 2013). "Where will you go when BJP comes to power? Nitin Gadkari threatens I-T officials". Times of India.
  42. ^ "I-T officers' body demands apology from Gadkari". The Hindu. 27 January 2013.
  43. ^ Deepshikha Ghosh (30 April 2014). "Why Congress' Manish Tewari apologised to BJP's Nitin Gadkari". NDTV.com.
  44. ^ a b "Income tax department clean chit to Nitin Gadkari, may get BJP chief post". timesofindia-economictimes.
  45. ^ "IT dept detects Rs. 7 crore evasion in Gadkari's companies". The Hindu. 5 May 2013.

External links

Lok Sabha
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Nagpur
2014 – Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Road Transport and Highways
26 May 2014 - Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Minister of Shipping
26 May 2014 - Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by Minister of Rural Development
4 June 2014 - 9 November 2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Panchayati Raj
4 June 2014 - 9 November 2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation
4 June 2014 - 9 November 2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Water Resources,
River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation
3 September 2017 - Present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nitin_Gadkari&oldid=807142654"