Speaking at the annual general meeting of an industry body, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari laid great emphasis on developing inland water transport (IWT) in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar and West Bengal. When asked by the moderator of the session if the fact that UP, Bihar and Bengal were headed for elections in the next two years had something to do with the renewed focus on IWT in these states, Gadkari laughed and said, "Votes don't matter. My focus has always been development. The rest is for the people to decide."