Modi to speak from 'Lal Qila'-like stage in Chhattisgarh

In poll-bound Chhattisgarh, the stage that Modi will share with Raman Singh is a model of Delhi's Red Fort

Stage is set for Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) election campaign committee chief Narendra Modi to address his supporters from the ramparts of the Red Fort (Lal Qila).

 

The event, however, will not be organised in Delhi but Ambikapur in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. 

 

The podium that Modi will share with his host Chief Minister Raman Singh is a replica of Delhi's Red Fort, symbolically hinting at the growing chorus for his elevation as the party's prime ministerial candidate.

 

Last month, Modi had challenged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 15 - first saying that his address in Gujarat would draw as much attention as the PM's Red Fort speech, and then making a surprisingly political speech tearing into Singh.

 

A massive replica of the Red Fort has been rigged up in Ambikapur, about 320km from Raipur, where the six-phase Vikas Yatra of Raman Singh will conclude on Saturday. On the guest list for the function is the Gujarat chief minister, who has already attended the Vikas Yatra on May 18 at Rajnandgaon.

 

The Gujarat CM is the only senior BJP leader to attend Raman's statewide yatra twice, a development indicating a growing bond between the two BJP chief ministers in recent years.

 

According to ABP News-Nielsen survey, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to perform better than the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) if an election were held now. 

 

In more good news for the BJP, 47% of the respondents favoured Modi  as the prime minister, followed by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh. The PM's performance has been found even less satisfactory than the UPA's overall one.

 

Modi on Thursday played down his ambition to be the next Prime Minister of the country and said he would serve Gujarat till the end of 2017 as the people of the state had elected him for that office. 

 

His remarks come at a time when the BJP high command remains undecided on the timing of announcing him as the party's prime ministerial candidate.