Bal Thackeray was not a dictator, says Nitin Gadkari

Mumbai: Describing late Bal Thackeray as an "open-hearted" person, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari said in Mumbai that the Sena patriarch was not a "dictator" and always took decisions, which he felt were "reasonable".

"Balasaheb was an open-hearted person. He never indulged in caste-based politics. Though some people portrayed him as a dictator, it was not the case. He would take decisions in accordance with the situation," Gadkari said at a programme in Mumbai on Friday evening.

The BJP leader was speaking at a function in suburban Dadar, where he along with Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray released MP Sanjay Raut's book "Yugant" - a compilation of his articles written on the 86-year-old leader.

Calling the Sena patriarch an \"open-hearted\" man, the BJP president said he was the only leader who thought on technical issue.

Gadkari said Thackeray took decisions which he felt were "right and reasonable". "He was the only leader who thought on technical issues. Whenever we approached him with an issue, he would listen to us and cooperate on those he felt were right," he added.

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