Presidential Speech Part-4

Indore: Seeking inspiration from Ahilyabai Holkar
The BJP believes that political office is not a piece of ornamentation. Rather, it is an opportunity to perform ones duty of serving the people righteously and selflessly without any discrimination. Indeed, a person occupying high office must treat even his or her own near and dear ones on par with others. I am reminded of this as our National Council is meeting here in Indore, the city that has immortalized the hallowed memory of one of the greatest rulers in Indias history \ Punyashlok Rajmata Ahilyabai Holkar. I pay tribute to this Philosopher Queen of the Malwa kingdom, whose devotion to justice was legendary. She did not hesitate to order the killing of her only son under the elephant feet for indulging in gravely criminal activities. An embodiment of wisdom, goodness, firmness and virtue, she worked tirelessly for the upliftment of the common people, especially the tribal communities. India is now a democracy. However, from ideal rulers like Ahilyabai Holkar, we should learn the lessons of impartial and fair approach for good governance and peoples welfare.

After reaching Indore, I also visited MHOW, the birth-place of Bharatratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar to pay my tributes to his memories. Dr. Ambedkar was a true Humanist who gave voice to the voiceless. His life best teaches the values of social justice and Samajik samarasata. I offer my adaranjali to this towering leader of all of us.

Presidential Speech Part-1

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY
Presidential Address
By
Shri Nitin Gadkari
All-India President
National Council meeting of the BJP
Indore . 18 February 2010
Dear delegate brothers and sisters,

As I stand before you at this meeting of the National Council of the Bharatiya
Janata Party, I am overwhelmed by happiness, humility and pride. There are
moments in ones life when words fail to adequately express ones emotions. This
is one such moment in my life, the most important indeed.

I am happy because I can feel the tidal wave of enthusiasm and energy of the delegates of my Party who have congregated here in the historic city of Indore. It is you who bring the hopes and the aspirations, as also the dedication and determination, of millions of party karyakartas and supporters across the length and breadth of our great country. In you I see the same commitment to serve the Motherland that I had seen when I, as a young Party volunteer, had attended the founding conference of the BJP in Mumbai in 1980.

I am humbled by the enormous trust and confidence that the National Council has reposed in me. I had never in my life expected that I would be called upon to shoulder the responsibility of serving as President of this great party. I know, and I will state it without any hesitation, that there is no dearth of persons with requisite leadership capacity in our Party and there are many other leaders who too could have shouldered this responsibility. Yet, the party leadership and you unanimously elected me to occupy this position. I, as a disciplined soldier of the Party, accept this responsibility with a sense of mission.

Why this moment fills me with immense pride is because the honour of presiding over the BJP has been bestowed on somebody who is basically a Karyakarta. I do not have a pedigreed surname. I do not even belong to a political family. I was born in an ordinary family in Nagpur. I learnt my first lessons in patriotism and social service in RSS and ABVP.