Don’t touch any colleague’s feet in order to go up the party ladder, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said yesterday. Concerned over a culture of patronage, Gadkari declared at the party’s National Council meeting, “There will be no protocol in the party... I am ordering it.”

Citing his own example, Gadkari said if an ordinary worker like him could become the party president, others too had hope of moving up the ranks. “If you deserve it, you will get it... Work hard and add to your weight,” he told the meeting, including leaders and some 1,200 delegates.