Modi as BJP's PM candidate: Talks on in party to build consensus

Former president Murali Manohar Joshi is likely to be emissary to Modi to flag issues on which leadership wants more clarity

There is still no clarity within the Bharatiya Janata Party on when Narendra Modi will be declared its prime ministerial candidate. Efforts continue for a consensus on the issues therein.

A school of thought in the party believes patriarch L K Advani and its Lok Sabha leader Sushma Swaraj’s feelings on the matter should be circumvented and the announcement made over their head. Yet, this would go against the grain in the way decisions are taken in the BJP. The leadership believes Modi must be made aware of the reasons for reservations in a large section of the party over his elevation.

Former party president Murali Manohar Joshi is likely to be the emissary to Modi to flag the issues on which the leadership wants more clarity. This meeting is likely this week.

The most important one is the issue of the leadership in Gujarat: Would Modi be willing to relinquish control of Gujarat, come to Delhi and lead from the front? This is important because leaders say a lot of what Modi feels and wants done is being lost in translation.

In spite of reservations, leaders said Modi’s name could be announced any day. A senior BJP spokesperson, requesting anonymity, said, “BJP doesn’t encourage personalities over party. But, in Modi’s case, the pressure of the cadres is too great  to be ignored.”

Top leaders say the meeting of the parliamentary board, scheduled for Friday, was off, suggesting more negotiation was needed.

During Wednesday, negotiations were on. After Nitin Gadkari visited Advani on Tuesday night, Rajnath Singh met Advani at the latter’s residence.

For instance, Modi’s Man Friday is his former home minister, Amit Shah. BJP leaders say Shah is in the thrall of the same set of people who were active during the presidency of Nitin Gadkari. Shah has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh, the state on which the BJP’s eyes are fixed as the one that will propel the party from its current tally of 116 to nearer 200 in the Lok Sabha.

However, several leaders are uncomfortable with the overt religious polarisation the BJP has embarked upon in UP. They would like Modi himself to spell out the strategy there.

Obviously, leaders who find themselves unable to contribute to the general swell about his popularity are worried about their fate once he is elevated. They would like some reassurances on what one termed ‘inclusiveness’. This insecurity applies as much to someone like Shatrughan Sinha — who said in August that though Modi was a capable administrator, "popularity alone cannot be the criterion (to become PM). If that is the criterion, then the most popular person in the country today is Amitabh Bachchan” -- as to Jaswant Singh, whose book on Sardar Patel was denounced by Modi, and which Gujarat was the first state to ban.

Once these issues are resolved, these leaders have conveyed to Joshi, there can be no argument against Modi’s elevation.

During Wednesday, negotiations were on. After Gadkari visiting Advani on Tuesday night, Rajnath Singh met Advani at the latter’s residence.

In spite of reservations, leaders said Modi’s name could be announced any day. A senior spokesperson of the party, requesting anonymity, said, “BJP doesn’t encourage personalities over party. But, in Modi’s case, the pressure of the cadres is too great  to be ignored.”

And, yet, top leaders said the meeting of the parliamentary board, scheduled for Friday, was off, suggesting more negotiation was needed.