Toll Sucks Life

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari took everyone by surprise when at a function in Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters are located, he expressed concern over the "rising" number of poor.

- SRI AUROBINDO

He said wealth was "getting concentrated" in the hands of some affluent people. He did not stop at that and went on to say there is a need for decentralisation of wealth and touched on a wide range of issues, including agriculture, manufacturing, taxation and public-private partnership in infrastructure development. In fact, he sounded like an Opposition leader when he said slowly the number of poor people is increasing and wealth is getting centralised in the hands of few wealthy people. The timing and venue are significant as Gadkari is known to be among the few BJP leaders enjoying the trust of the top echelons of the RSS. The BJP is going through the motions of selecting a party president and the RSS would apparently like to have a man of its choice at the helm of the ruling party who can take on, if necessary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The new party president is to be appointed once the PM returns from his foreign tour on 10 July. The term of the current party president, JP Nadda, ended two years ago. The announcement regarding the schedule for electing his successor is yet to be made.