Fulfill Promises Like Me Or Get Thrashed by Public: Nitin Gadkari's Pre-poll Warning Triggers Speculation

New Delhi: In a warning to his fellow politicians, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said that citizens admire leaders who show them dreams, "but when those dreams aren't fulfilled, people also beat up the leaders".

"Hence, you must show the dreams that you are capable of fulfilling," he said, followed by some self praise. "I am not the one who only sells dreams, but I deliver 100 per cent what I talk about," Gadkari added.

The remark provoked some in the Opposition to ask for whom was the warning meant for. Taking a jibe at Gadkari over his statement, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that the minister was showing his party "a mirror in a subtle way."

RJD leader Manoj K Jha also expressed shock at the comment and wrote, "OMG!! Something is brewing!!! (sic)"

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.

Last year, the Union minister had made comments that were said to have caused the ruling party much embarrassment. At an event he had said that some people in the BJP need to speak less. Politicians in general need to be more economical while speaking to media, he added.

Gadkari had also hinted that the BJP may have made false promised in 2014 "deliberately". "We were very confident that we would never come to power, so we were advised to make tall promises," said Gadkari during the show. “Now that we are in power, the public reminds us of those promises made by us. However, these days, we just laugh and move on," he had said, drawing sharp reaction from some leaders.