'I have served you, vote for me if you want to': Nitin Gadkari's message for voters ahead of 2024 elections

The next general election is expected to be held in India between April and May 2024 to elect the members of the 18th Lok Sabha.

"I have served you. Vote for me if you like, don't if you do not want to," Gadkari told a public gathering in Maharashtra’s Washim while inaugurating a road, reported NDTV.

Gadkari said he would neither put up posters, urging voters to elect him nor would he resort to offering them inducements or bribes of any kind and wouldn’t let them indulge in such practices.

"I have decided that I will not put up any banners or posters for the next Lok Sabha elections and will not give any chai-paani. You will not get the darshan of Goddess Lakshmi (a colloquial way of saying one won't get money), nor will you get domestic or foreign liquor. I will not indulge in corruption and won't let you indulge in it either," he said, according to the report.

Gadkari is a Member of Parliament (MP) Lok Sabha from the Nagpur constituency of Maharashtra.

Just the day before, the minister had announced that the government is in the process of formulating a policy to eliminate potholes on national highways by the year's end. Additionally, the ministry is leaning towards adopting the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model for road construction projects, as they tend to receive better maintenance, he had explained.

Typically, road construction is carried out through three models: BOT, Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), and Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM).

Gadkari explained that the roads constructed through the BOT model are far better than the EPC mode as in the former case the contractor knows they have to bear the cost of the maintenance of the road for the next 15-20 years.