Nitin Gadkari Takes On Brahmins, Reservation

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that he does not believe in caste, stressing, “No human is greater because of caste, religion, or language, but only because of their qualities. I often joke that the biggest favour God has done for me is that I was not given reservation benefits."

Gadkari was speaking at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Halba Samaj Mahasangh in Nagpur. His remarks come at a time when Maharashtra is witnessing renewed agitations over reservations and quotas.

The senior BJP leader also underlined the role of entrepreneurship in community upliftment. Nagpur Today, in a separate report, said that Gadkari urged those who are economically well-off and highly educated to support people in need. “It is the responsibility of those who are educationally and economically well-off to help others in their community progress," he said.

Gadkari has made similar observations in the past as well. While addressing the Charmakar Seva Sangh in Nagpur in September last year, he said youths of the community should become job givers rather than job seekers. At an event to felicitate meritorious students from the Charmakar community, traditionally engaged in leather work, he highlighted that “education is the key to prosperity."

At that time, too, he remarked that being ineligible for reservation pushed him towards entrepreneurship. “I often say that not being able to get a reservation benefit was the biggest favour God did to me. Else, I would have joined as a clerk in some bank or become a class 1 officer at best. Very early in my life, I had told my parents that I would become a job giver, not a job seeker. I eventually entered business and now employ 15,000 people," he said.