New Delhi: The BJP is likely to announce within 24 hours that Narendra Modi will be its candidate for prime minister, according to sources, despite taut opposition from LK Advani, the party's senior-most leader.
"Nobody is angry or protesting", said BJP president Rajanth Singh, adding that Mr Modi's political future will be decided "after talks."
He met with Mr Advani again today this morning, after a round of negotiations yesterday cancelled any hope of consensus. Mr Advani, sources say, told the BJP president on Wednesday that an announcement of Mr Modi as the BJP's presumptive prime minister will be a "disaster" and could deliver a third straight defeat for the party in the national elections, due by May.
The BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, believes that Mr Modi's surging popularity among party workers could echo among voters, and wants Mr Modi's candidature to be announced urgently.
The conundrum for Mr Singh as president is whether to proceed now with a meeting of the BJP's top 12 leaders or parliamentary board for a vote on Mr Modi. Mr Advani, 85, has allegedly said he will vote against the Gujarat Chief Minister; Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj could echo his dissent, said sources, laying bare the fissures that Mr Modi has etched within the BJP. The BJP chief will meet Ms Swaraj this afternoon.
Mr Advani has been trafficking in dissent against Mr Modi, once his protege, for several months. He resigned from all party posts for 24 hours after Mr Modi was picked campaign-in-charge; the RSS persuaded him to return to the fold.
Mr Advani claims that a campaign pivoted around Mr Modi will force the BJP to focus its campaign on defending the chief minister, who is regularly excoriated by other parties for being a divisive leader on account of the riots in his state in 2002, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.
"Nobody is angry or protesting", said BJP president Rajanth Singh, adding that Mr Modi's political future will be decided "after talks."
He met with Mr Advani again today this morning, after a round of negotiations yesterday cancelled any hope of consensus. Mr Advani, sources say, told the BJP president on Wednesday that an announcement of Mr Modi as the BJP's presumptive prime minister will be a "disaster" and could deliver a third straight defeat for the party in the national elections, due by May.
The BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh or RSS, believes that Mr Modi's surging popularity among party workers could echo among voters, and wants Mr Modi's candidature to be announced urgently.
The conundrum for Mr Singh as president is whether to proceed now with a meeting of the BJP's top 12 leaders or parliamentary board for a vote on Mr Modi. Mr Advani, 85, has allegedly said he will vote against the Gujarat Chief Minister; Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj could echo his dissent, said sources, laying bare the fissures that Mr Modi has etched within the BJP. The BJP chief will meet Ms Swaraj this afternoon.
Mr Advani has been trafficking in dissent against Mr Modi, once his protege, for several months. He resigned from all party posts for 24 hours after Mr Modi was picked campaign-in-charge; the RSS persuaded him to return to the fold.
Mr Advani claims that a campaign pivoted around Mr Modi will force the BJP to focus its campaign on defending the chief minister, who is regularly excoriated by other parties for being a divisive leader on account of the riots in his state in 2002, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed.
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