Gadkari's jibe at Cong: BJP doesn't worship 'rising son'

Even as the party seeks to reinvent itself ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday told his party leaders to concentrate on their work and not merely give speeches if they want the organisation to grow.

Speaking at a party function at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Gadkari said, "The BJP has two types of leaders. One who work and the other who merely give speeches. I have told such leaders who only give speeches to work for the party."

At the recent BJP conclave in Surajkund, Haryana, Gadkari had encouraged his cadre to shun sycophancy and work as part of a team for the party's progress.

He had said BJP is not a "wholesale party or a proprietary concern" and members should stop touching the feet of young leaders. "We do not have the culture of worshipping the rising son. This is not a ma-beta (mother-son) party," Gadkari had said, in an obvious jibe at the Congress.

Saturday's statement appears to be a part of this effort by Gadkari to see his cadre become active in party work instead of just giving sermons and speeches. He has said unless there is a change in BJP's style of functioning, it will not emerge as a "credible alternative" to the Congress.

The party feels the Congress is "losing credibility" among the masses due to a string of scams and corruption cases against union ministers but the BJP should be in a position to capitalise on them.