Modi most popular BJP leader, says Rajnath

Without giving any clear hint at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's role in 2014 general elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh on Saturday called the former “most popular BJP leader in the country”.

Speaking during the 33rd foundation day of BJP here, Singh said, “I am not making any vain praises for the Gujarat CM. Even the world accepts Gujarat as a model state. The Gujarat CM has walked on Mahatma Gandhi’s footprints and made Gujarat a model state. He is incorruptible and an able administrator. Even the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has praised Modi.”

In a show of strength, Modi hosted BJP’s 33rd foundation day at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, attended by over 80,000 party workers from across the country.

While Singh remained non-committal on who the party’s prime ministerial (PM) candidate would be, Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel suggested senior leader L K Advani’s name as the “head of government” after the polls. Goel later retracted his statement saying he was nobody to suggest a name for party’s PM candidate and that the parliamentary board would decide that.

"We have led India for six years in the past and were able to keep inflation under control. Why is it that whenever Congress is in power, the inflation rate increases?" asked Singh.

Singh also demanded that the government should not initiate any further talks with Pakistan until the latter agrees to help India in stopping terrorists from entering this country.