"False," Says Nitin Gadkari, Clarifying On Video Posted By Rahul Gandhi

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday described as "false" reports that he had talked about "tall promises" to win the 2014 elections in a video that Congress president Rahul Gandhi has shared on social media.

Rahul Gandhi tweeted the video that transcribes Nitin Gadkari as saying in Marathi that the BJP "was confident it could never come to power. So some leaders suggested, just make tall promises. If we do not come to power, we won't be responsible anyway."

The Congress president commented in his tweet: "You are right. The public also believes that the government exploited their dreams and their trust."

Nitin Gadkari said the video interaction referred to the Maharashtra election campaign in 2014.

"78 days back I went to the Marathi channel for the interview. I told them that during Maharashtra elections Devendra Fadnavis and Gopinath Munde were discussing a poll promise about toll plaza fees. I objected to it by saying that it would be very tough to implement and hence we should not make such a promise. I mentioned to them that we have mostly been in the opposition and have less experience of being in power, hence we face some issues while making poll promises," news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

He went on to emphasise, "I always keep poll promises". He said his statements had been twisted by a section of the media.

Taunting the Congress president for putting out the video, the minister said: "Since when does Rahul Gandhi understand Marathi?"