Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday said he was not in favour of having cells in a political party on the basis of castes, religions or communities, and added that talent was more important than these factors.

He was referring to the cells formed within political parties to represent different castes or communities, like the minority community and Scheduled Caste (SC).

The minister was addressing a rally for Sandip Joshi, BJP's graduates' constituency candidate from East Vidarbha.                "I have a clear opinion that a man is not great by his caste, but by his talent. In BJP also we have different cells...When I was the party president, I had experienced this," he said.

"I am of the opinion that no cell should be formed on the basis of caste and religion, as there is no use of such units. The representatives of such cells ask how many tickets people from their caste have got from the party," he said.

"I always say that our party, our workers are our family. We have never done politics on the basis of caste and community. We stand behind those party workers who work hard, considering them as the members of the family...This is the specialty of the BJP," the Minister of Road Transport and Highways said.

Gadkari said that while carrying out any social work or helping the needy, he never considered someone's caste or religion.

"We have never done politics of caste and community. Our party has never done it and will never do it. Caste is only in the minds of the leaders, caste is not in the in the mind of public or party workers," he said.