Delhi dominates

POWER POINT ‘SACHIDANANDA MURTHY

A perception about the top leadership of the Au is that compared with the tough-man-ered Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is less hawkish and more accommodative. Gadkari, who comes from a business background, is more of a go-getter, who has avoided harsh language towards the Congress and other opponents.

But a circular from the transport ministry to all state governments shows that Gadkari, too, can be considered a part of the kettle of hawks in the saffron party. Gadkari, who had pushed for tough changes in motor vehicle laws to impose very high fines on offenders, was upset that some states had refused to implement the new fines. BJP-ruled Gujarat was the first such state. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani unilaterally announced a drastic reduction of Parliament-fixed fines to assuage angry motorists, as compounded fines were sometimes more than the price of the vehicles.