Rajnath seconds Jaitley on Narendra Modi for PM

After the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, it was turn of party president Rajnath Singh on Sunday to pave the way for the declaration of the name of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh on Sunday said it was unfair to blame for Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Addressing the meeting of the national executive of the party’s legal cell, Jaitley on Saturday, without naming Modi, had said that not naming the prime ministerial candidate could harm party’s prospects in the 2014 general elections. The timing of the comment is important since it comes before the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh’s (RSS) top brass holds a two-day meeting in the national Capital on 7 and 8 September.

On Sunday, addressing the assembly of the minorities’ cell, party president made a case for Modi, saying, ‘One of our states is Gujarat. I agree an unfortunate incident had taken place. Attempts were made to blame Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as if the riots were planned by the CM. During my personal interactions with him (Modi), I try to read his facial expressions. He looks so sad about the blame game...what is wrong with the people. Is it politics?’ 

On Saturday, Jaitley had said there should be no controversy over the issue of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate as that would be akin to committing a ‘hit-wicket’ and the only possible reason for the main opposition losing the upcoming general elections.

Sources say that a final decision on Modi’s candidature could be taken in during the two day RSS meet, which will be attended by Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, general secretary Bhaiiyaji Joshi and joint general secretary Suresh Soni. Top leaders of BJP like LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are expected to be part of this meeting.