Will Gadkari emerge as consensus candidate if 2019 mandate is hung?

New Delhi, Jan 7: The bittersweet relation between the Shiv Sena and the BJP has taken an interesting turn with the latter hinting that it may back Nitin Gadkari as consensus candidate if 2019 Lok Sabha elections verdict is hung.

For that matter even Gadkari has been making statements which is making the BJP's top brass uncomfortable. Some reports also suggest that Gadkari not only has a strong backing of the RSS but also shares good relations with several regional parties that could make the difference in 2019.

He is a staunch RSS leader, but does not reflect the rigidity and the arrogance that has come to be associated with the current leadership. The Shiv Sena that is currently speaking out against Modi and Shah, is more favourably inclined towards Gadkari.

Shiv Sena did not say it directly that it would back Gadkari but dropped hints by saying that Gadkari, who was denied a second term as the BJP president in 2009, is waiting for the hung Lok Sabha of 2019. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut wrote in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' that the country is heading for a fractured mandate and prime minister Narendra Modi is responsible for it.

He also blasted PM Modi for wasting the 2014 mandate and added that "Modi's larger-than-life image has lost the shine now."

"The country is heading for a fractured mandate and prime minister Narendra Modi is responsible for it," he said, adding that the full mandate Modi won in 2014 was "an opportunity wasted".

Raut wrote that in 2014 there was a wave in Modi's support as voters were determined to defeat the Congress, but "the picture has changed today".

"Modi's larger-than-life image has lost the shine now. Rahul Gandhi's leadership is not as towering as Modi's but he has gained importance as people are disappointed with the current government," the Sena MP said.

"While senior leaders in the BJP are worried about its possible poor performance in coming elections, Nitin Gadkari's statements are an indication of which way the winds are blowing. A leader like Gadkari has equal acceptance in the RSS as well as among other BJP leaders," Raut said.

"Political conspiracies were hatched to deny Gadkari a second term when he was the BJP president (from 2009 to 2013)," he claimed. "He also faced several allegations in Purti group scam and a second term was denied to him. That memory still rankles with Gadkari," Raut said. "Gadkari is now waiting for the hung Lok Sabha of 2019," Raut added, suggesting, indirectly, that in that case the Union minister could become the consensus candidate for the top post.