LK Advani deserves to be President of India: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Union Minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has said party patriarch L K Advani deserves to be the President of India, a post commensurate with his stature.

Appearing on Rajat Sharma's show 'Aap ki Adalat' on 'India TV', the Union Road Transport Minister said it would not have been proper had he (Advani) been made the Lok Sabha Speaker as the party veteran has already been Deputy Prime Minister.

"Advaniji was Deputy Prime Minister and it would not have been proper had he been made the Speaker. Advaniji deserves to become the nation's President," Gadkari said, according to a press release issued by the channel.

"All of us respect Advaniji and we want that he should get a post commensurate with his stature," he said.

Gadkari said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a conscious decision not to induct ministers above the age of 75 years due to which some senior party leaders like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi did not find a place in the Union Cabinet.

Comparing the party seniors with Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan who cannot play the role of a hero now as the generation has changed, the former BJP President said even he may be replaced ten years from now to make way for new people.

He dismissed as media speculation reports that Joshi wanted to become Deputy Chairperson of Planning Commission.

"Joshiji is our thinktank, our senior leader. Our party will surely utilise his vast knowledge and experience," he told the channel.