Narendra Modi has formally bagged BJP’s prime ministerial nomination, winning an often bitter power struggle within the main opposition and throwing down the gauntlet to the ruling Congress for a direct contest with its scion Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 general elections.
BJP patriarch LK Advani refused to endorse the Gujarat chief minister’s anointment and stayed away from the meeting of the party’s parliamentary board that ratified the decision on Friday. A sulking Advani publicised his reservations by penning yet another letter to party president Rajnath Singh. “When you came to meet me this afternoon to inform me of the parliamentary board meeting I had expressed my pain and had expressed my disappointment on your manner of functioning,” the 85-year-old leader said in the letter. “I had told you that I will consider whether I should come to the meeting and express my views or not. I have decided that it is best that I do not attend the meeting.”
The party chose to overrule Advani, who told Singh’s emissary, Nitin Gadkari, in the afternoon that the formal announcement on Modi should be made only after the series of assembly polls later this year. Gadkari, however, made it clear the matter could not be stalled any longer. Advani then sought the intervention of the party’s ideological mentor, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a leader familiar with the developments said. But RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi told Advani that it was BJP’s decision and everybody in the party should go along with it, the leader added.
Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, took her reservations against the decision to the party’s parliamentary board. She repeated Advani’s stance, only to be strongly countered by Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Thawar Chand Gehlot. All three argued that the party could not be unmindful of the sentiments of the cadre and public opinion.
The argument was supported by others on the board. Even as Swaraj sat beside Modi in a show of solidarity at the press conference, where Singh announced the decision, she left the party office soon after the interaction with the media got over.
At the press conference, BJP paraded the entire parliamentary board, barring Advani, to drive home the point that Modi’s candidature had emphatic endorsement from within the party. It also presented a picture of complete marginalisation of Advani, who was once lauded in BJP as the man who did perhaps the most to build the party. The new power equations in BJP could also see Advani’s loyalists being pushed to the margins. For the record, the party attempted to avoid drawing attention to the resentment between Advani and Modi. “He will meet and seek Advani’s blessings,” the party president said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to social networking site Twitter to welcome the announcement. “I congratulate Narendra Modi on being nominated as party’s PM candidate. His dynamic leadership would ensure astounding victory for us. The leadership of Modi shall take India to great heights which this nation and our citizens deserve,” Chouhan tweeted. Leaders of rival parties and activists opposed to Modi, on the other hand, pointed to his anti-minorities image and RSS’ hand in the decision.
Rajnath Singh claimed that the endorsement was unanimous. “We went along with the popular mood and the sentiments of the cadre,” he said, adding the party’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance had offered “enthusiastic and unstinting” endorsement of Modi.
In his “acceptance speech”, Modi showered lavish praise on Advani and said he was fortunate to lead the party built by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Advani. “I was an ordinary worker of BJP. I have been offered the privilege to lead the party,” Modi said, amid booming rounds of applause.
Modi also used the occasion to juxtapose his candidature with that of the Nehru-Gandhi family. “I come from an ordinary family and I have been fortunate to be given this big responsibility.”
Setting the tone for his election campaign, he said, “It is an election for tackling corruption, price rise and for providing clean governance. We will give a new vision and new hope.”
The party expects Modi’s candidature to energise the cadre, demoralised by a leadership that has failed to cash in on the deficiencies of the Congress government at the Centre. Modi’s recent efforts, party leaders maintain, have been successful in enlisting the support of the sections that have remained out of its reach. However, Modi’s candidature could sharpen traditional fault lines in politically crucial states.
While no major political realignment is expected before the elections, signs of a consolidation were evident after the announcement. A celebration broke out at KJP office in Karnataka, signalling former party leader BS Yeddyurappa’s intention to do business with BJP. The loss of clout for Ananth Kumar, an Advani acolyte, is likely to make things easier for Yeddyurappa and Sriramalu, who fought against BJP in the last assembly elections.
The power equations within BJP are set to see a radical transformation.
While Rajnath Singh has aligned himself completely with Modi and systematically countered dissenting voices, Sushma Swaraj has lost considerable capital.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which was unable to get its own members on board over the nomination of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, has been able to easily secure support from the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal — two of its longstanding allies.
Ahead of the parliamentary board meeting, BJP chief Rajnath Singh had telephoned Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray as well as SAD supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal.
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