Narendra Modi's anointment as BJP's PM candidate marks the end of LK Advani's era

It’s official. The central parliamentary board (CPB) of the BJP named Narendra Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha election at a hurriedly convened meeting on Friday evening. Party patriarch LK Advani, who was opposed to the timing of the announcement, was conspicuous by his absence. 

Amid hectic parleys among top BJP leaders, there was uncertainty about convening a CPB meeting since there was no such announcement till 4pm. It eventually took place at 5.30pm and Modi reached Delhi only half-an-hour before that.      

Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari were in a huddle with Advani. Later, Gadkari and Ravi Shankar Prasad, the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, conferred with BJP president Rajnath Singh at the latter’s house.

At the press conference following an hour-long CPB meeting at the party’s central office on Ashoka Road, Rajnath Singh announced that Modi has been chosen the prime ministerial candidate keeping in mind the “mood in the country” and the “mood of the party workers”. Singh also said that he had spoken to NDA partners Shiv Sena and Akali Dal who have expressed their support to Modi. 

In his acceptance speech, Modi thanked the national leadership of the BJP as well as party workers. He also thanked the media for creating the hope that the BJP has a role to play in the bright future of the country. Modi reiterated that the party has given “a man from an ordinary family and a small town” a chance to serve the country in different positions.

CPB members and office-bearers on the podium felicitated Modi by offering him bouquets and garlands. Among those present were Sushma Swaraj, senior leader Arun Jaitley and former party presidents Murli Manohar Joshi, Venkaiah Naidu and Gadkari.  

Though Rajnath Singh and Modi did not take questions from the media, the BJP president said the Gujarat chief minister will visit Advani’s residence and seek his blessings.  The celebrations at the party office in Delhi began in the afternoon, hours before Modi was anointed prime ministerial candidate, indicating that the decision was inevitable. At the BJP headquarters in Ahmedabad, there was jubilation among party workers, state leaders and councillors. Slogans such as ‘Desh ka PM kaisa ho, Narendra Modi jaisa ho” filled the air. Women performed the garba while others danced to the tunes of the dhol and nagara.