Despite nearly two years from the scheduled general elections, aspirants for the prime ministerial seat in the NDA have begun spade work in the hope of dethroning the UPA camp, with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking an assurance from the BJP against projecting party heavy weight and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as the NDA’s choice for the coveted post.
According to sources, in his discussion with BJP President Nitin Gadkari during the oath-taking ceremony of Pranab Mukherjee as President last month, Mr Kumar impressed upon him against going this way as it would greatly affect the Muslim vote of his party in Bihar as well as the NDA.
Mr Gadkari in his reply is reported to have assured the JD-U leader that BJP was yet to dwell on the issue for the 2014 general elections, and that all NDA allies would be kept on board while taking a final call on the issue.
The Bihar Chief Minister, the sources said yesterday, was wary of Mr Modi being projected as the NDA choice for the prime minister’s seat as Mr Kumar is trying to wean away the Muslim vote bank in Bihar from the RJD fold of Lalu Prasad who is struggling to keep his grip over state politics intact.
The sources added that Mr Kumar, who is one of the strong contenders for the prime minister ship in the scenario of NDA staging a come back, was also of the impression that the NDA needed to finalise its candidate for the post ‘as early as possible’ as it would give the coalition a ‘head start’, specially when there was dilemma in the UPA over Manmohan Singh continuing for the third term.
”And during this discussion, he specifically mentioned the name of Narendra Modi against being projected as the NDA face for prime minister ship,” the sources said, adding the JD-U leader was very categorical in his stance on the issue during his talks with the BJP president.
The sources said though choosing the candidate for the PM’s post in a coalition was done through discussion, the BJP being the largest constituent of NDA definitely had an edge is finalising the choice.
However, with JD(U)’s 29 MPs in Parliament, and being the second largest coalition partner in the NDA, Mr Kumar’s reservation about Mr Modi could not be taken lightly, morose in the light of not-so-bonded nature of the coalition and fragile egos of its leaders.
The Bihar Chief Minister had also spoken his mind on the issue in a recent interview as well where he had talked of NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate having ‘secular credentials’ – a clear hint against Mr Modi’s gaining popularity in the BJP and the currency of him being projected as the coalition’s next ‘face’ for the 2014 elections.
The sources also indicated that the JD(U) had already made up its mind of snapping ties with the NDA, and go it alone like Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, if the BJP persisted with Mr Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 general elections, to secure the Muslim vote bank in Bihar.
—-UNI