Meet the outspoken maverick who could lead India
Nitin Gadkari, India’s highways minister, talks to The Economist
Nitin Gadkari leans back into his sofa and takes a hard-earned slurp of his tea. India’s roads minister, one of its most popular and controversial cabinet members, has just done his 72nd rally in 13 days of campaigning for a state election in his native Maharashtra. He began the day in Mumbai, in the west, and ended it 430 miles (690km) eastwards in his hometown of Nagpur. It was a brutal schedule, more suited to his earlier years, he admits. But at 67, he knows a thing or two about endurance in Indian politics.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The roads to the top”
From the November 30th 2024 edition
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