Union cabinet minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari's recent comments during a Marathi television show have caused significant political controversy, giving ammunition to opposition parties to target the ruling party for making "false promises", reported The Times of India.
"We were very confident that we would never come to power, so we were advised to make tall promises. 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," said Gadkari during the show, according to the paper. Nana Patekar was also a guest on the Marathi reality show Assal Pavhane, Irsal Namune along with Gadkari.
The comments have led opposition parties to ask whether the BJP knowingly made promises that were impossible to deliver during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and thus intentionally misled voters.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi latched onto the comment and endorsed it, but not without giving it his own spin. "You are right (Gadkari). Even the people think that the BJP used their dreams and faith for the party's gain to come to power," Gandhi said.