Gadkari lauds Indira, says she proved herself without quota
Nagpur, Jan 7: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has praised former Prime minister Indira Gandhi, saying she did not need reservation to prove her mettle and did better than male leaders in the Congress.
The senior BJP leader said he was not opposed to women's reservation, but was against politics based on caste and religion.
He made the remarks at the inauguration of an exhibition by women self-help groups (SHGs) here Sunday.
The BJP has been critical of Indira Gandhi over the imposition of Emergency in the country.
"Indira Gandhi proved her mettle in her party among other dedicated male leaders. Was it due to reservation," Gadkari said.
Women BJP leaders Union minister Sushma Swaraj, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan did well in politics sand reservations, he said.
"I am not against women's reservation.Women should get reservation. I am not opposed to it," he said.
The minister said he was against caste and religion-based politics. A person excels on the basis of knowledge and not because of language, caste, religion or region, he said.
"One makes progress on the basis of knowledge. Do we ask about the religion of Saibaba, Gajanan Maharaj or Sant Tukdoji Maharaj? Have we ever asked about the caste of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar or Jyotiba Phule? I am against politics based on caste and religion," Gadkari said.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
