Labels

JD(U)for Nitish, not Modi, as PM candidate


PATNA: Attempts by a section of BJP to project Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate now that the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) has heaped praise on his effective governance, has not gone down well with party ally JD(U) which suspects it to be a plot hatched by two Congresses - the Indian National Congress and the US Congress - to benefit Rahul Gandhi.
"In this era of coalition, no single party can decide on PM probable," JD(U) national general secretary Bhim Singh said and added JD(U) might be a small party but its leader Nitish Kumar is the most non-controversial and popular politician. "As such, he should be considered by the NDA for the PM's post," said Singh who is also a minister in the state's NDA government headed by Nitish.
Singh suspected that the US CRS report at a time when the Congress-led UPA is in turmoil might have been drafted with the complicity of AICC which wants Rahul Gandhi to dominate the centre stage of national politics. "Projecting a controversial person (Modi) against Rahul is aimed at polarizing minority and secular votes in favour of Congress," he alleged.
Another minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said it could be an attempt of the USA to set its own agenda in the Indian politics. "We Indians are not in a mood to even think about polls now," said Chaudhary who was till recently the state JD(U) president.
Most of the JD(U)leaders refused to go on record on the issue. But they were unanimous in their opinion that the senior NDA partner, which is junior to JD(U)in Bihar with less number of legislators, should avoid projecting Modi as its PM candidate as a major section of the society as well as many NDA leaders hate him.
Even Nitish's antipathy to Modi is well known. So furious was the Bihar CM over the publication of an advertisement, which sought to depict his bonhomie with Modi, that he abruptly cancelled the dinner he was scheduled to host for the BJP top brass on the sidelines of its national executive committee meeting in Patna in June last year. Nitish even returned Rs 5 crore which the Gujarat government had donated to Bihar for flood relief.
Muslims in Bihar have by and large supported Nitish's JD(U) in polls and, as such, it is unlikely that it would accept Modi as NDA's PM candidate. "Our views about Modi are known," said JD(U)'s national spokesman Shivanand Tiwary, known for his anti-BJP rhetorics.

No comments:

Post a Comment