Leaders who don't keep promise get 'beaten up' by people: Gadkari
Mumbai, Jan 27: Union minister Nitin Gadkari Sunday said political leaders who sell dreams to people, but fail to make them a reality get "beaten up" by the public.
The minister, who handles a host of infrastructure-related portfolios in the Modi government, asserted he is a doer and delivers on his promises.
"People like (political) leaders who sell them dreams. But if these dreams are not realised, then they beat them up (politically) as well," Gadkari said, speaking at a function here.
"I am not the one who only sells dreams, but I deliver 100 per cent what I talk about," he said.
Gadkari, a former BJP president, also spoke about his stint as Maharashtra's PWD minister when the Shiv Sena-BJP government was in power (1995-99) in the state.
"The mediapersons in Mumbai know what kind of a person I am as they have seen how I complete projects. They do trust me," said the 61-year-old politician from Nagpur.
"People used to laugh at me when I, as PWD minister, used to claim that I was going to build over 50 flyovers in Mumbai, and bring down the travel time between Mumbai and Pune to merely two hours (via 91-km expressway).
"I was ridiculed but I proved them wrong and completed every project I had promised," Gadkari said.
At the function, Bollywood actor Isha Koppikar joined the BJP and was made working president of the party's women transport wing.
In December, Gadkari said at an event in Pune that leadership should have the tendency to own up defeat and failures.
The remarks had come days after the BJP's dismal show in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections.
As the comments created a controversy, Gadkari said his statements had been twisted and alleged "there was a sinister campaign by some opposition parties and a section of the media to twist" his comments and "draw politically motivated inferences to malign" him and his party.
At the valedictory function of the annual Marathi literary meet at Yavatmal on January 13, Gadkari said politicians should not interfere in other fields.
The meet was embroiled in a controversy after an invitation to writer Nayantara Sahgal was withdrawn apparently under pressure from a political party.
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UP: Fake IAS officer marries woman, flees with Rs 15 lakh dowry
Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
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