Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has a reputation for effectiveness. Expectations from him are high - both in the transport and the rural development portfolios. It is disappointing, therefore, that he has embroiled himself in a controversy of considerable proportions barely a few weeks after taking office. According to a report in The Indian Express, his promise to legalise e-rickshaws and assign them certain benefits - such as exemption from the Motor Vehicles Act - will also benefit a company owned by his brother-in-law. Purti Green Technologies, or PGT, is one of the few manufacturers of electric rickshaws in India and stands to make significant profits off Mr Gadkari's decision.
What is doubly unfortunate is that Mr Gadkari's statement in response to this allegation simply refuses to accept that a problem even exists. Mr Gadkari has simply denied any connections between "his family" and "any e-rickshaw firm". It appears that Mr Gadkari has a very different definition of "family" from the rest of the country. This amounts to little more than an acceptance of the charges, and an attempt to brazen it out. Nor is this the first time that Mr Gadkari has been in trouble. It is worth remembering that investigation of his business dealings at the end of 2012 had led to his resignation from the post of president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or the BJP. That series of investigations had thrown up many worrying facts - such as the large number of directorships in companies linked to Mr Gadkari's business enterprises that were held by, for example, his driver. However, what is even more of a concern is another fact: that a company called Ideal Road Builders received a great deal of business from the Maharashtra government when Mr Gadkari ran the state's public works department - and then, after Mr Gadkari left office, it invested heavily in the ex-minister's Purti Group and even gave the group a loan, which allowed it to wipe out all its other debt. Mr Gadkari at that point denied any conflict of interest. Many were then willing to take him at his word. Certainly, the BJP, which first shunted him out, rehabilitated him very quickly. But with these new allegations - and his unsatisfactory response to them - it is now becoming increasingly likely that Mr Gadkari simply does not have a clear idea of what conflict of interest is. That's a real problem in a Union minister - doubly so when he has a set of portfolios that have the power to alter a lot of private companies' balance sheets.
Mr Gadkari is unusual for Indian politicians in that he has a business background. His rise within the BJP was welcomed by many for precisely that reason. India needs more leaders who understand how the private sector works, and have faced the problems that entrepreneurs face in this country. However, it is also true that the rise of such politicians would be a double-edged sword if no clear regulations or traditions exist on conflict of interest. Going by Mr Gadkari's example, it is possible that the businessmen-turned-politicians themselves don't even have a sense of when they're going wrong, or think that a brazen denial is enough. We need multi-party discussions on how such conflicts of interest can best be avoided and addressed.
