Gadkari says his 'leadership' remark was tweaked

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], Dec 23 (ANI): A day after Union minister Nitin Gadkari stoked controversy by saying that "the leadership should own up the defeat", the minister on Sunday said that his statements have been tweaked as per convenience.
While addressing the media here, he said, "It is unfortunate that my statements have been trimmed as per convenience. My recent statement had no political reference, but additional comments were added and presented as news. What I have not said should not be quoted in my name."
Gadkari also assured that the Lok Sabha elections of 2019 will be contested under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "2019 will happen in Modi ji leadership we will win for sure, I am neither in the race nor want to be," added Gadkari.
On Saturday, the minister had said that the party leadership should own up the defeat and failures, adding that nobody is willing to take responsibility for failure, unlike success.
Speaking at an event organised by the Pune District Urban Cooperative Banks Association Limited (PDUCBAL), Gadkari had said, "Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan, as in politics when there is success, there will be a race to take credit but in case of failure, everybody will start pointing fingers at each other. One also has to take credit of failure and that kind of leadership should be there. (Party) leadership should own up to failures. Until it does so, its loyalty and commitment towards the organisation are not proved."
"In politics, after a defeat in any state or Lok Sabha elections, the defeated candidates start cribbing and complaining that they did not get adequate support. I always say that whichever panel loses, it submits an application against the other. When there is a BJP government, an inquiry is initiated against the Congress, and when there is Congress, an inquiry is done against the BJP," he added.
Gadkari's remark came after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently lost elections battle in three 'Hindi heartland' states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. (ANI)