They Were Ready With Suits…Nitin Gadkari’s Dig Amid Maharashtra Political Upheaval

In an apparent comment on the current political situation in Maharashtra, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said those who were aspiring to become ministers are now sad as the field has got "crowded", and they do not know what to do with their "stitched suits".

Speaking at a programme organised by the Nagpur Vidyapeeth Shikshan Manch here, the senior BJP leader referred to the concept of "domestic happy human index" proposed by Bhutan's prime minister and said that most people are never happy.

"If a person accepts that I have received more than what I deserved then that person can be happy and contented," the Road Transport and Highways minister said.

Otherwise, corporators are unhappy that they did not become MLAs, MLAs are unhappy because they did not become ministers and ministers remain discontented because they did not get a good ministry, Gadkari said.

"...and now those who were going to become (ministers) are unhappy, thinking whether their turn would ever come, so much crowded it has become," he said, drawing laughter and applause from the audience.

"They were ready with suits stitched for the swearing-in ceremony. Now the question is what is to be done with that suit, (as) there is a crowd (of aspirants)," he added, continuing in a lighter vein.

The capacity of the hall where the program was being held was 2200 and it can accommodate a lot of people, but a ministry's size can not be increased, Gadkari further said.

Since the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar joined the Maharashtra government on July 2, opposition leaders have been claiming that there is simmering discontent among the MLAs of the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and its ally BJP as their ministerial ambitions have been thwarted.