Nitin Gadkari Must Choose Between Preaching And Performance

In the theatre of Indian politics, few characters are as paradoxical as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Celebrated as a “performer” for his role in expanding India’s highway network, he now increasingly resembles a wandering preacher—delivering spiritual discourses, lamenting inequality, and sermonizing about moral values—while turning a blind eye to the very ministry he heads. His statements about the rich becoming richer and the poor sinking further into misery, though seemingly profound, are in fact hollow, self-serving, and dripping with irony. Because if there’s anyone who symbolises the opaque intersection of wealth, power, and politics in modern India, it’s Gadkari himself.

Let’s get to the heart of the matter. This is a man who, by his own public image, claims no desire for power or position. Yet, he continues to occupy one of the most powerful cabinet berths in the country. His son’s wedding reportedly cost hundreds of crores. An entire airstrip was developed to accommodate VIP guests near Nagpur. A temporary township sprang up to host the political and business elite. No minister with even a shred of humility or conscience can preach about the struggles of the common man after such a vulgar display of privilege.

The public is not blind. They see a politician who cloaks himself in the garb of Gandhian simplicity while indulging in opulence behind closed doors. The same Gadkari was once in the eye of a storm when media investigations revealed a labyrinth of benami shell companies linked to his Purti Group, with drivers and office boys serving as supposed directors. That scandal forced him to resign as BJP President in 2013. Though he escaped legal consequences, the questions have never been convincingly answered.

And today, instead of focusing on the actual workings of his transport ministry—which is riddled with issues like road safety crises, rampant toll corruption, crony contractor networks, and ecological disasters—he prefers to offer philosophical lectures to the nation. This is not governance. It is a distraction, a dangerous dilution of responsibility dressed up as wisdom.

Gadkari's speeches may win applause in auditoriums and on WhatsApp forwards, but they do little for the daily commuter stuck in deadly traffic, the villager whose land is seized for a highway, or the taxpayer fleeced at every toll booth. It is easier to sound noble than to act with integrity. And Gadkari, with all his rhetorical flourishes, has consistently chosen the former over the latter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi once said he prefers those who deliver over those who talk. Then why is Gadkari still in the Cabinet? If he truly has no interest in governance, Modi should relieve him of his duties—and let him retire to write books, host spiritual seminars, or reflect on the contradictions of his own career.

India has no need for another hypocrite in high office. What it desperately needs is honest, focused, and accountable leadership. Nitin Gadkari must decide which one he wants to be.