BJP president revises list of likely PM candidates, includes Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj & LKAdvani; insiders say Gujarat CM has edge over others in party.
Earlier this week, BJP national president Nitin Gadkari backed Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate but, on Friday, he made the list longer to include LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley! In an interview, Gadkari reportedly said that the other three leaders are “able PM candidates as well” and that a decision for the top posts will be taken at the appropriate time.
For the past four days, the mood in Gujarat BJP was upbeat because of Gadkari’s announcement, only to be dampened again on Friday.
Even as sources confide that Gadkari’s statements are taken seriously, the insider perception in Gujarat BJP is that other leaders like Jaitley and Swaraj are not the real problem. Modi’s ascent to the country’s coveted top job depends on Advani.
“It will all boil down to Modi’s political guru. Despite his age, Advani carries considerable clout in the party. Majority of senior leaders will shed their inhibitions about Modi if Advani supports him,” an observant veteran said. Another source said that at the national level, the party is split over Modi as prime ministerial candidate. “Just as there is demand for Priyanka (Gandhi) among Congress workers at the grassroots level, the demand in the BJP is for Modi as the national leader. Jaitley and Swaraj can be problem areas, but other leaders such as Rajnath Singh, Gadkari and (Venkiah) Naidu are happy supporting Modi as they have accepted that they are not getting anywhere with the current leaders. It is also clear that they cannot take the party to a majority in Parliament without a clear, strong leadership. They’d be happier as cabinet ministers in a Modi-led government than sit in the Opposition again,” the source said.
Of course, the problem of convincing NDA allies who are cold to Modi continues to plague them. "Allies can be kingmakers if BJP does not get a majority. Hence the aim is to get enough seats so that allies cannot call the shots," he added.
Congress leader Shankersinh Vaghela scoffs at the relevance of the whole debate. "There is nothing to comment, as it is their internal party matter. It is too soon and there is a lot to happen yet. It is nothing but wishful thinking as there is absolutely no chance of BJP getting a majority (in parliament)," he said.
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