Even though chief minister Narendra Modi has retained his undisputed hold over Gujarat, the key NDA ally JD(U) continues to be wary of his rising clout.
Mr Modi is a challenger to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s politics of development and a threat to the secular vote-bank that the JD(U) leader has nursed.
In an interesting coincidence, Mr Kumar had reached out to Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who is working on a strategy to stitch a non-Congress and non-BJP alliance of regional parties.
“We have made it clear time and again that the prime ministerial candidate will be from the largest party of the alliance but his or her acceptability will surely weigh on the thoughts of the NDA leader. For us, Mr Modi carries the post-Godhra taint of communal riots, which will not be going away so soon,” said a senior JD(U) functionary.
Amid the chorus for bringing Mr Modi at the national forefront, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav had earlier hinted preference for senior BJP leader L.K. Advani.
However, the JD(U) chief is also of the opinion that the people may give a split verdict in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which will not allow one party to impose its choice on other partners.
While Mr Kumar has stated that he does not even dream of becoming the Prime Minister, the likes of Ms Banerjee and Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik may rally around his name if the 2014 verdict is not clear in favour of one dominant party, hinted a JD(U) leader.
However, the JD(U) leaders are counting on a number of adversaries of Mr Modi within the BJP to keep him confined to Gujarat.