Power can corrupt, Gadkari warns ministers

PUNE: A day after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis strongly defended his ministers and state leaders allegedly involved in corruption cases, Union minister Nitin Gadkari urged them to be cautious, saying it was difficult to stay clean when in power.
Without mentioning the state ministers and other leaders facing corruption charges, Gadkari told the state executive committee members, “Today, we are in the government and have a chief minister and ministers.But all this can change and the ‘former’ tag can come before our designations. It is difficult to remain clean when we are in power. The coming days are challenging. Don’t forget the school of thought and aim of our party. Ministers and leaders must change their approach.”
Calling for self-restraint, Gadkari said, “Corporators are unhappy as they have not become MLAs, legislators are unhappy as they have not been made ministers. Ministers are unhappy as they have not got good portfolios, those with good portfolios are unhappy as they aspire to become the chief minister. But we have to restrict ourselves.”
“The party does not run on any individual’s wish. I was once BJP national president. The party never functioned as per the wishes of Atalji, Advaniji, Amit Shah, Modi or myself. Don’t be under the illusion that the chief minister can decide everything,” he added. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the outcome of any election is based on a party’s strong organizational capacity and not on any “wave”. Some BJP members urged Fadnavis to look into issues of graft in the bureaucracy.