Rahul compliments Gadkari as 'only one in BJP with some guts'

Continuing the Congress's subtle policy of portraying Nitin Gadkari as a 'rival' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief Rahul Gandhi complimented the minister as the “only one in the BJP with some guts”.

In a tweet on Monday, Gandhi wrote, “Gadkari Ji, compliments! You are the only one in the BJP with some guts. Please also comment on: 1. The #RafaleScam & Anil Ambani 2. Farmers’ Distress 3. Destruction of Institutions”.

Gandhi's tweet also referred to a news article, which quoted Gadkari—the Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Ganga Rejuvenation—as telling ABVP members, “One who can not manage his home cannot manage the country”. The statement was interpreted by critics of Modi as being a jibe at the prime minister as he had left his family at a young age.

In recent months, Gadkari has made headlines for utterances that have been construed as being veiled criticisms of Modi and Amit Shah. In October 2018, Gandhi tweeted a video of Gadkari claiming the BJP made tall promises to win the 2014 elections. After the BJP's loss in assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Gadkari had claimed if he were party president, he would be held accountable for the electoral defeat of his MPs or MLAs.

Not surprisingly, the Congress has attempted to cash in on such statements. In December, the Congress's social media head Divya Spandana tweeted a news story about a farmers' leader in Maharashtra who had demanded that Gadkari be made prime minister if the BJP wanted to win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

On Sunday, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram wrote a column in the Indian Express about Gadkari's importance for the RSS; Chidambaram claims more 'critical' utterances from Gadkari can be expected as the BJP's electoral “slide continues”.

Gandhi's tweet, listing contentious issues such as the Rafale scam and farmers' distress, appears aimed at increasing discomfort for Modi.