New Delhi, Dec 24(PTI): Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said, "Even a transgender would bear children but an irrigation scheme in Maharashtra's Sangli district would never be completed." Gadkari was addressing a rally in Sangli in western Maharashtra.
The BJP leader's comments came on a day he accused a section of the media of "twisting" his remarks on "leadership owning up to defeat" which he had made in Pune on Saturday.
"The economic viability of the Tembhu lift irrigation scheme was so difficult...that once I had shared my views with a person over it. I had said that even a transgender would bear children but this irrigation scheme will never be completed," Gadkari said.
The lift irrigation project is about fetching water from the Krishna river basin and irrigating the arid region of Sangli district to increase agriculture production.
Gadkari was attending the event to mark completion of irrigation works of the fourth stage of the lift-irrigation scheme. The construction work of the fifth stage is expected to be completed soon.
The Tembhu lift irrigation project was administratively approved in 1996 for Rs 1,416.59 crore. The project envisages lifting of 22.12 TMC water from the Krishna river to irrigate 80,472 hectares of land in Satara, Sangli and Solapur districts.
On Saturday, Gadkari, while addressing an event in Pune, had said, "Leadership should have the 'vrutti' (tendency) to own up the defeat and failures. Loyalty of the leadership towards the organisation will not be proved till the time it owns up responsibility for defeat."
However, Gadkari, known for speaking his mind, said his statements have been twisted.
"In the last few days, I have noticed a sinister campaign by some opposition parties and a section of the media to twist my statements and use them out of context and draw politically motivated inferences to malign my party and me," he wrote on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
The remarks had come days after the BJP's dismal show in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly elections.