"I always say this jokingly that no matter which party's government it is, one thing is sure, that the one who does good work never gets respect and those who do bad work are never punished," he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Gadkari expressed concern over opportunistic leaders keen on remaining associated with a ruling party of the day. He asserted that while there were politicians who were rooted in their ideology, their numbers were gradually decreasing.
He also said that such "deterioration in ideology" did not bode well for a democracy, PTI reported.
Gadkari made the comments at an event organised in Delhi by Lokmat Media Group, a Marathi news organisation, to present awards to parliamentarians for their exemplary contributions.
He asserted that differences of opinion were not a problem in debates and discussions. "Our problem is lack of ideas," the senior BJP leader said.
"There are people who stand firm with conviction based on their ideology, but the number of such people is declining. And this deterioration in ideology, which is happening, is not good for democracy," he said.
Gadkari added, "Neither rightist nor leftist, we are known opportunists, some people write like this. And all want to remain associated with the ruling party."
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gadkari said India was the mother of democracy. "It is because of this speciality, our democratic governance system is ideal for the rest of the world," he said.
