In the midst of a controversy for his business connections, BJP
national leader Nitin Gadkari on Sunday evening courted fresh dispute
after he compared the intelligent quotients (IQ) of Swami Vivekananda
with that of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Speaking at the Ojaswini felicitation progr
amme
here to honour leading women from various fields, Gadkari said, "The IQ
of both Swami Vivekananda and Dawood Ibrahim would be similar, but
their direction in life is so different. One used his intelligence for
destructive purpose, to damage society and humanity with the spread of
crime and terror while there was the other used his intelligence for the
benefit of society. His thoughts remain an inspiration for the
nation.''
At the function which was targeted at paying tributes
to women, the BJP president also hinted that he was not one of those
politicians who advocated reservations for the fairer sex. He gave a
scintillating speech to argue that women had the intelligence and power
to get to the top of every job.
"Whenever people ask me about
reservation for women, I tell them that Indira Gandhi and Mayawati did
not benefit from reservations," he said. Mentioning the names of several
women leaders he explained: There are two ways of getting ahead in
life. Take two parallel lines - you can make one longer by deleting the
other or you can make the effort and stretch your line much ahead of the
parallel.''
Gadkari admitted that opportunities should be
given to prove ones talent. He also acknowledged that women have been
discriminated against in the Indian society for centuries and that there
was no connection between caste, creed religion and gender'' and
aptitude and hard-work. He quipped that a gifted worker cannot be
suppressed forever. He even quoted Greek physicist Archimedes' theory of
displacement to prove that women had the ability to empower themselves
without the support of reservations.
Archimedes has said so.
The heavier the object you throw, that much water will splash out as
displacement. The harder you work, that much recognition will be yours
and no one can stop it,'' Gadkari explained.
In his long
40-minutes speech, Nitin Gadkari avoided any mention about the recent
controversy surrounding him. The media attempted thrice in Bhopal to get
him to speak on the issue, but he eluded the questions each time.
