Whenever the name of Narendra Modi is tossed up for one or the other reason, it is keenly watched and followed by various political parties and media as to how JD-U would react to it and what would be its impact on NDA and national polity. One may wonder as to whether the spat between Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar is a mere shadow boxing or more than that. The opposition to the projection of Modi could be possibly more from within than JD-U or even RSS.
Yashwant Sinha has recently pitched the name of Narendra Modi as the most suitable prime ministerial candidate by saying that BJP would gain in general elections by projecting Modi. But nobody can say for sure whether he has raised the issue either to strengthen Modi’s position or to scuttle his prospects. The candidature of Modi has been endorsed by many in the BJP, but the fact remains that the NDA so far is not on the same page on Modi. JD-U, an important partner of the BJ, in their own terms, has already expressed its willingness to back Modi as a prime ministerial candidate. Soroor Ahmed, a Patna based journalist, while talking to Radiance, said there is little substance in the verbal spat between JD-U and BJP on Narendra Modi at it is done so very often only to create political hype. He also opined that politics is the art of possible and one cannot say for sure how it is going to turn out before 2014.
Shiv Sena wants Sushma Swaraj to be projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP. The Akali Dal has also not openly endorsed Modi’s candidature. The Congress Party might feel some relieved from the fact that anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare, who during the launch of his Janatantra Morcha in the national capital recently, said that it would be wrong to project Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate because he was not sincere in rooting out corruption because of his dilly-dallying attitude in setting up a Lokayukta in the state. And so far the way he has governed Gujarat it becomes crystal clear that Modi is not interested in making a corrupt-free India.
BJP president Rajnath Singh on many occasions has attempted to play down the issue for the reason many believe that he does not want Modi’s issue to be discussed now before he gets settled in but at the same time has insinuated that Modi will play a bigger role in the coming general elections. At a recently concluded meeting of the RSS, BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders BJP has been pressurised to renew its pledge to build Ram temple at Ayodhya and aggressively toe the Hindutva line. Presently, Rajnath Singh is in no mood to fish in the troubled waters because any fresh trouble in the party will eventually harm his attempt to re-organise the party and at the same time to stop infighting in the party which is evident by how Nitin Gadkari was conspired to leave his post in spite of the strong backing of the RSS.