Allies put pressure on BJP to name its PM nominee

Sena warns of 'Mahabharat' if BJP ignores NDA constituents

Anita Saluja

New Delhi: Allies are mounting pressure on the BJP to name its Prime Ministerial candidate. Latest to join the Janata Dal (United) chorus is Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, who on Wednesday, demanded that the BJP should clarify whether or not it is projecting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its Prime Ministerial candidate. It has asked the BJP to convene the NDA meeting at the earliest.

In a strongly-worded editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, Uddhav Thackeray conceded that the BJP has the right to nominate its candidate for Prime Minister, but it cannot take a unilateral decision on the issue. Shiv Sena, which is opposed to Modi being declared as the Prime Ministerial candidate would prefer Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj instead.

Recently, Nitish Kumar gave BJP time till December to decide its Prime Ministerial nominee. At the same time, the JD (U) left no one in doubt that if the BJP picks the Gujarat Chief Minister as its nominee, it will quit the NDA. Presently, the NDA comprises of Allies like the Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Janata Party of Subramanian Swamy, Haryana Janhit Congress of Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi and Janata Dal (United), besides the BJP. With focus on expansion of the NDA, the BJP is keen not to lose any of the Allies and try and attract more parties into its fold.

In the editorial, Uddhav Thackeray referred to squabbles within the NDA on the issue of BJP Prime Ministerial candidate. "A section of the party is promoting Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Is it really so? Top leaders like Rajnath Singh, L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj should comment on this and the confusion should be cleared by convening a meeting of the NDA at the earliest," the Shiv Sena leader said.

Uddhav Thackeray warned, "Old friends can be separated over the wrong candidate" � an allusion to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's threat of a pullout from NDA, if Modi is declared the BJP Prime Ministerial face. He demanded that the BJP should call a meeting of the NDA soon to finalize its contender for the country's top job.

"If on account of any candidate, the NDA gains five-ten seats, old friends, who stood with the BJP for years may be distanced and result in the loss of many more seats," Uddhav Thackeray warned, insisting that the political pros and cons must be carefully weighed, before the NDA takes any decision. According to him, even if Modi is able to muster five to ten seats more for the NDA, it should not be at the cost of losing JD (U).

Significantly, on the issue of the Gujarat riots, the Shiv Sena backed Modi. The editorial stated that Modi cannot be blamed for the communal riots of Gujarat in 2002, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed. "Had anybody else been in Modi's place, the riots would still have taken place," the Sena editorial said. After initial sabre-rattling, with party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman and Meenakshi Lekhi having raised the pitch against the JD (U), BJP President Rajnath Singh on Wednesday struck a conciliatory note. He declared that all efforts would be made to ensure that the NDA does not split and it is kept intact.

Rajnath Singh claimed the JD (U) is a separate party and has different position on some issues. The aim would be to take the Allies into confidence and resolve all issues through discussions. He also made it a point not to rub Modi on the wrong side. Modi never asked for a bigger role, he insisted, "not even once." He said, "Nobody can deny that Modi is among the most popular leaders and also the best performer in the BJP."