No ‘220 club’ in BJP hoping to replace PM Modi: Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said there is no ‘220 club’ in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hoping for a reduced tally, which could see the emergence of an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to The Times of India, Gadkari rejected any discussion of a possible alternative candidate and asserted that the party will return to power with a full majority under PM Modi’s stewardship.

Gadkari’s name has often been the subject of speculation as an ‘acceptable’ candidate if the saffron party falls significantly short of majority.

The Union minister for Road Transport & Highways told the newspaper: “I don’t do such calculations or have any such expectations, I am a worker of the party. I am sure that the work done under PM Modi will result in a full majority. No such situation is going to happen.”

Gadkari expressed confidence that the development work done by the government would enthuse people to support the BJP and give them a second term.

Most opinion polls between November 2018 and February had shown the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) failing to secure a majority on its own. However, recent opinion surveys, conducted after the Pulwama terror attack and Indian Air Force (IAF)’s air strike at Balakot, show the NDA crossing the half-way mark on its own steam.

For months now, reports have suggested that Gadkari — who is considered close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — could be a consensus candidate within the BJP, if the party is required to seek external support to form the government. Speaking to the newspaper, Gadkari rejected the speculation.

Recently, the Member of Parliament (MP) from Nagpur, played an important behind-the-scene role in ensuring the BJP retained power in Goa after the death of then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

In 2017 too, after the BJP failed to attain majority in the state Assembly polls, Gadkari had flown down to help the BJP cobble up an alliance with smaller parties in the coastal state, after which a government was formed under Parrikar’s leadership.