Nitin Gadkari asks 'where are the jobs', Rahul Gandhi says 'we told you so'

Speaking on Maratha agitation, Gadkari offered mild criticism of the way Marathas, who are seeking reservation and affirmative action in Maharashtra, were conducting their agitation

The law of unintended consequences intervened when Union Minister of roads and generally considered one of the better ministers in the government, Nitin Gadkari made an unguarded observation and the Congress led by party president Rahul Gandhi eagerly seized on it, causing some embarrassment to the government. 

Speaking in Pune on the Maratha agitation, Gadkari, himself an upper caste Brahmin, offered mild criticism of the way Marathas, who are seeking reservation and affirmative action in Maharashtra, were conducting their agitation. “Let's assume the reservation is given. But there are no jobs. Because in banks, the jobs have shrunk because of IT. Government recruitment is frozen. Where are the jobs?” Gadkari had said. 

What he possibly meant was that the Maratha agitation for government jobs was a non-starter. But Rahul Gandhi took up the refrain, adding that that is exactly what the Congress was saying: That there are no jobs. “Excellent question, Gadkari ji. Every Indian is asking the same question” Gandhi tweeted on Monday.

Earlier, Gadkari while addressing the quota system said, “The problem with the quota is that backwardness is becoming a political interest. Everyone says I am backward. In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Brahmins are strong. They dominate politics. (And) They say they are backward," the senior BJP leader said. 

“One school of thought is that a poor is a poor, he has no caste, creed or language. Whatever may be the religion — the Muslim, the Hindu or the Maratha (a caste), in all communities there is one section which has no clothes to wear, no food to eat. 

"One school of thought also is (that) we must also consider the poorest of the poor section in every community," he said.

This is a "socio-economic thinking" and it must not be politicised, the Union Minister said. Maintaining that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was trying to resolve the Maratha quota demand by holding talks, Gadkari urged people to maintain peace. 

"Responsible political parties must not add fuel to the fire," he added.