People at times play 'caste card' to get poll ticket: Nitin Gadkari
Nagpur, Sep 17: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said sometimes when people fail to get tickets to contest polls on the basis of their work, they play the "caste card".
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi "for never invoking his caste", he cited examples of a number of prominent politicians who rose above the caste and religious identity to carve out a niche for themselves.
"When people fail to get (poll) ticket on the basis of their work (krututva), they play caste card," the former BJP president said addressing a gathering here on Monday at the 'Akhil Bhartiya Mali Samaj Mahaadiveshan', organised by the Mahatma Phule Shikshan Sanstha.
"I want to ask - did George Fernandes (former Union minister and socialist stalwart) belong to any caste? He did not belong to any caste...he was a Christian. Did Indira Gandhi come to power because of caste?" he said.
Did Ashok Gehlot belong to your caste? But he became the chief minister of Rajasthan when people from other caste groups helped him, he pointed out.
"People told me that women should get reservation, 'I said yes they should get reservation'. But, I immediately asked them, did Indira Gandhi get reservation? For several years she ruled the country and became popular," he said.
Similarly, did Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj (BJP leaders) get reservation? the minister said to support his argument that caste was not instrumental in the success of these politicians.
"In politics those who do good work, don't have to ask for votes as the votes come to them naturally," he said.
"Prime Minister Modi never talks about his caste. I really appreciate Modiji. Aaj tak Narendra Modiji ne kabhi nahi kahaa main backward community se hun (PM Modi has never said he belongs to a backward community)," Gadkari said.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
