Pune: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi is mentioning caste in his speeches during the election campaign, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has taken a different stance. He has appealed to voters to cast their votes on the performance of government rather than on caste or religion. Gadkari was addressing a rally in Pune on Saturday for the election campaign of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena led coalition candidate of Pune, Girish Bapat. 

Gadkari addressed three rallies in the city. In the Shivajinagar rally, Gadkari said, “Everyone should have to access to development. Those people who don’t seek votes on their performance or work, appeal to people to vote on caste, religion, region and language.” He held the Congress government responsible for non-development in the country. He spoke about BJP government’s development projects and policies related road transport, irrigation and shipping ministry, which is the portfolio of Gadkari. 

He said, “The government has taken development approach to ensure progress of the country. Our country has the potential to become an economic power, but we have to implement proper economic policies. If we want to make India a superpower, you should  decide for whom to cast the vote. Gadkari said, “Double decker buses that can ‘fly’ and broad gauge metro will be introduced in Pune. They are a cheap option of transportation as compared to existing metro rail project. I assure Puneites that if we will come in power, I will make special efforts to bring these projects to Pune.”