Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that “the biggest test of democracy is that the king tolerates the strongest opinion against him and introspects over it”, reported PTI.

While Gadkari did not clarify if his remark was directed at a specific person, it seemed to be a veiled criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader also said that writers and intellectuals should express themselves without fear, according to the news agency. He was speaking at a book launch at MIT World Peace University in Pune, Maharashtra.

“At present, our country is facing a problem not about differences of opinion, but the lack of it,” he said, according to The Times of India. “We are called the mother of democracy, which stands on the four pillars of legislative, executive, judiciary and media. Our Constitution specifies the rights and responsibilities of each.”

This Constitution allows thinkers to voice their opinions in the national interest without any fear, he added.

Gadkari also said that social inequalities triggered by caste or religion would not allow the country to progress. “Fundamental spirit of Gita, Quran and Bible is the same,” he said. “It is an individual’s choice how to offer prayers to his or her god. Just as we have freedom of speech, we have freedom of religion.”

Earlier this month, the BJP leader also claimed that an Opposition leader had offered him support to become the prime minister. He said that he had declined the offer.

“I asked, why should you support me and why should I take your support?” Gadkari said. He did not clarify which Opposition leader he was referring to.

“To become a prime minister is not the aim in my life,” he said. “I am loyal to my conviction and my organisation and I am not going to compromise for any post, because my conviction is above everything else for me.”

Since June, after the BJP failed to secure the majority in the Lok Sabha on its own, members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have also made several veiled criticisms of Modi and his party.

Earlier this month, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said that people, not individuals, should decide whether someone should be treated like a god.

The remark seemed to reference Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of not being born biologically.

On July 25, author and veteran Sangh leader Ratan Sharda criticised Bharatiya Janata Party publicity chief Amit Malviya for trolling social media users who had expressed their discontent regarding a provision in the Union budget.

In June, Sharda had said in an article in the Sangh’s mouthpiece Organiser that the Lok Sabha elections had come as a reality check for several overconfident BJP leaders and workers.

Indresh Kumar, a leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, had also said in June that the BJP failed to secure the majority in the polls due to “arrogance”.

Bhagwat had said on June 10 that Manipur has been waiting for peace for over a year and that the situation in the state requires urgent attention. The BJP is in power in Manipur.

The Congress capitalised on Bhagwat’s remarks to criticise Modi for not visiting Manipur even once since the ethnic conflict there broke out in May 2023.