Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, the BJP’s oldest ally, has endorsed Sushma Swaraj as the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate, reigniting the divisive leadership issue within the main opposition party.
This comes at a time when the party is in an aggressive mood and needs to project a united face to take on the ruling Congress over irregularities in coal block allocations. It also brings to the fore the festering leadership question in the party.
Thackeray, in an interview to the Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Sunday, said Swaraj was the only leader in the BJP who was “deserving” and would make a “great choice” for the prime minister’s post.
“At present there is only one person who is intelligent, brilliant — Sushma Swaraj. I have said this many times... She would be a great choice for PM's post.
“She is a deserving, intelligent woman. She would deliver a great performance,” he said when asked who in the BJP could become the PM candidate.
Predictably, the BJP’s other important ally, the JD (U), said the NDA would take a call on the prime ministerial candidate when the time comes. The endorsement for Swaraj comes soon after she met the Sena supremo in Mumbai last week, and also coincides with a vicious campaign let loose against a senior party leader, making allegations against him, which is being viewed as linked to the power struggle within the BJP.
With the party scheduled to hold its national executive and national council meeting later this month, where it hopes to fine-tune its line at a time when the political atmosphere is charged over Coalgate, rising prices, talk of early polls and formation of various fronts by smaller parties, the leadership debate is surely going to hold precedence.
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