Tussle within NDA over PM candidate

Much before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) officially decides its prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections, a debate has started within the party and among the alliance partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha and former minister Ram Jethmalani have demanded that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi be made the prime ministerial candidate.

“According to me, Narendra Modi is the most suitable and the best person for the Prime Minister’s job. Nothing has happened to change my mind. Modi, in my definition of secularism, is 100 per cent secular. I don’t believe Yashwant Sinha has said anything to the contrary. He has supported my view, and I am very happy that he has supported me. It lends greater credibility to what I have said,” Jethmalani said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena, the oldest ally of BJP, has also made it clear that it supports Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj for the top post.

Shiv Sena is not completely against Modi being the prime ministerial candidate.

“We feel Sushma Swaraj is a suitable candidate for the PM’s post,” Sanjay Raut, spokesperson of Shiv Sena, said in Mumbai while talking to reporters.

However, senior leaders of the BJP believe Shiv Sena would support any leader chosen by the BJP for the top post, and that differences with the alliance partner would be sorted out at the time of making the decision. Former Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray was the first one to name Swaraj for the top post.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have already made it clear they will not support Modi for NDA’s prime ministerial candidate, and the party would move out of the alliance if BJP decides on Modi. Senior leaders of JD(U) have repeatedly asked the BJP to name the prime ministerial candidate of the alliance before the Lok Sabha elections, as JD(U) prefers a secular leader to lead the alliance.

“The enemies and detractors of Narendra Modi have done their best to spoil his name by disseminating untruth, and sometimes, to my knowledge, creating false evidence to support their false claim. I believe he is impeccably secular, and when I use the word best, it means better than all those who, according to me, are known aspirants of the job,” Jethmalani told reporters.