Union Minister and prominent BJP leader Nitin Gadkari revealed on Saturday that he turned down an offer for the Prime Minister’s position from a senior opposition leader ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Gadkari made this revelation during a journalism award ceremony in Nagpur.

Speaking at the event, he noted that he firmly rejected the offer, stating, “I told the leader that I am guided by a particular ideology and firm beliefs. I am part of a party that has given me everything I could have ever dreamed of. No offer can tempt me.”

While Gadkari did not provide specific details about the incident or name the opposition leader, he stated that the offer was made in the context of speculation that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) might not secure a full majority in the 2024 general elections and could need support from opposition parties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks on caste and India’s quota system at an event in the US, and said that the Gandhi family has always opposed reservations and insulted OBCs, Dalits and Tribals.

While addressing a poll-bound rally in Haryana’s Kurukshetra, PM Modi claimed that country’s first prime minister and Rahul’s great-grandfather Jawahar Lal Nehru had said that the quality of government services would deteriorate if reservations are given to people in jobs.

Modi further said that Nehru also wrote a letter to the chief ministers of states opposing reservations.

“This (Gandhi) family has always insulted OBCs, Dalits and Tribals. When Nehru ji was the Prime Minister, he opposed reservation. He wrote a letter to the CMs of the states, proof of which is available. Not only this, Nehru ji had also said that if people with reservations get jobs, the quality of government services will deteriorate. When Indira Gandhi came, she also put a stay on the OBC reservation… Rajiv Gandhi also opposed reservation. In an interview, he even called those who got reservation as ‘Buddhu’…” he said while addressing the gathering.

Further attacking previous Congress governments in Haryana, PM Modi said, “We have seen that period of the Congress government when money for development used to be limited to one district only.” The BJP undertook development work in an equitable manner, Modi said.

He said that the Congress’ politics has reduced to spreading falsehood and anarchy in country. Today’s Congress has become a new form of urban Naxal and they do not feel any shame in speaking lies, he said.

Rahul Gandhi’s take on reservations

The Prime Minister’s remarks came after Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) earlier this week, said the Congress party would think of scrapping reservations when India becomes a “fair place”, adding that India was not a fair place at the moment.

While speaking to students at Georgetown University during his US trip, Gandhi reiterated his demand for a caste census and had said the Congress party wanted to know the socio-economic position of lower castes in India.

“The caste census is now an unstoppable idea. The critical question of whether 90% of our population is meaningfully represented in India’s institutional structure – economy, government, education – demands an answer. At its core, this is an issue of fairness and justice. Anything less than a comprehensive caste census, along with an economic and institutional survey is unacceptable.” “That’s the problem. Now, it (reservation) is not the only tool. There are other tools,” he had said.

His take on reservations, however, stirred trouble and drew flak from different corners of the political spectrum. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati alleged that Congress itself had done nothing for lower castes despite being in power for decades, and the BJP said the Congress leader’s comments came out of frustration.

Rahul Gandhi’s clarification on quota comments

In another interaction a day later, the Congress leader clarified that he was misquoted by some people that he was against reservation. “Let me make it clear – I am not against reservation. We will take reservation beyond the limit of 50 per cent,” he said.

“We feel there’s a very deep problem of participation, and we are going to address that problem. I don’t see it as a mandal vs kamandal issue. What we are saying is different than the idea of only reservations. What we are saying is we want a comprehensive understanding first of what’s going on and then we are going to apply a series of policies to correct it, reservation being one of them,” Gandhi added.

Polling for the 90-member legislative Haryana assembly will be held on October 5 and the votes will be counted on October 8.