Will Shah succeed Modi?
The talk about the successor of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has begun in the political circles after the BJP projected him as its prime ministerial candidate. The Congress on Monday predicted Amit Shah to succeed Mr Modi.
The BJP, which has been asking the Congress who is its PM candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, has been shying away from declaring its Gujarat CM candidate.
“Amit Shah will succeed Narendra Modi in Gujarat. Amit Shah is the most trusted man of Narendra Modi, ever since he was made pointsman of Uttar Pradesh,” said a member of the AICC “think-tank”.
While Modi loyalists in the BJP does not want him to quit the chief ministership before the Lok Sabha elections, his critics within the party are asking why he is sticking to the post.
Mr Modi is the first regional leader in the BJP who has compelled the national leadership of the party and the RSS to back him as the BJP’s PM candidate.
Other regional leaders, like Mr Kalyan Singh, once the poseterboy of the saffron party, chief ministers — Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh — could not even aspire for the top post.
While former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had to float a new party after the national leadership had refused to defend him on corruption charges, the former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje too was cut to size after she had tried to dare the national leadership.
If the Congress insiders are to be believed, the BJP veteran L.K. Advani would not contest a Lok Sabha seat from Gujarat this time.
“He (Advani) is unsure of his victory because of Narendra Modi who cannot forget his critics within the party. Atal Behari Vajpayee, Advani could not give ticket to Haren Pandya in the Gujarat Assembly polls due to stiff opposition from Modi,” they said.
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