BJP not to project Narendra Modi as PM candidate?

New Delhi, July 17: Has the BJP decided not to declare Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate before the Lok Sabha polls? According to a report published in Anandabazaar Patrika on Wednesday, the RSS has told both senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani and the Gujarat chief minister about its decision of not declaring Modi as the PM candidate.

The saffron camp wants to make use of the Modi wave at the moment by unleashing it throughout the country, with a special focus on Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and if it is found that Modi has gained further momentum, the issue of declaring the prime ministerial candidate will be taken up by the party.

In case it doesn't turn out in that way, then the BJP could go into the polls without any formal prime ministerial candidate. It will be something new for the party which used to project Atal Bihari Vajpayee as its face in the past, whether as a chief ministerial (for UP) or prime ministerial candidate.

Advani has reportedly told Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS chief, that he personally has no issues with Modi becoming the prime minister but he has also warned that if Modi is declared the party's PM candidate now, then the Congress will escalate its attack against Modi and lead to a massive polarisation.

Advani feels it will only help the opponent party to hide its failure in governance. The senior leader, who was instrumental in the BJP's meteoric rise in the 1980s and early 1990s, said that the situation in the country today is not like the Babri Masjid and Ayodhya days and there is little possibility of reaping political benefits by playing the Hindutva card.

The pro-Modi camp is not convinced, however. It wants Modi to be declared s the PM candidate or feels the party's morale will be affected and the Lok Sabha results could be affected.

OneIndia News