Wardha | Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday that had the Congress given priority to rural India, farmers would not be dying by suicide and there would be less poverty in villages.

Addressing a rally at Arvi in Wardha district ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, Gadkari said the BJP is neither a party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor himself but the workers who dedicated their lives to it. He also hailed the contribution of party workers in his political journey.

The Nagpur MP recalled his days as a party worker when he would visit the neighbouring Wardha district, in the state’s Vidarbha region, on a scooter with a third pillion rider. The region elects 62 of Maharashtra’s 288 MLAs.

“In 75 years of India’s history, the Congress never gave priority to the development of the country’s rural side. There were no roads in villages or drinking water.

“Congress never seriously thought of the development of rural India. Had the rural India got priority then farmers would not have committed suicide, there would not have been poverty in the villages," he said.

Gadkari said he does not oppose any kind of reservation but will never use religion and caste for politics.

The senior BJP leader said those who are socially, economically and educationally backward should get reservation to become economically and educationally capable but not by putting forward the shields of castes.

“We have to grow because of our work,” he added.