Modi set to be frontman of India’s opposition

PANAJI, India: Controversial opposition politician Narendra Modi’s hopes of becoming India’s next premier could get a big boost this weekend when his party chooses its frontman for next year’s general elections.
Modi, chief minister of the thriving western state of Gujarat for more than a decade, is widely expected to be named head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election panel at a two-day meeting that began yesterday in the coastal state of Goa.
The post is seen as a stepping stone to Modi being named the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, despite resistance from some colleagues who see him as an electorally divisive figure for failing to stop deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002, while other senior party leaders would like the job themselves.
Lal Krishna Advani, the 85-year-old party patriarch who mentored Modi, is now opposed to his elevation due to what some party officials say is the Gujarat politician’s arrogant style and fears that he could alienate Muslim voters.
Party officials said Advani called in “sick” and skipped a crucial meeting on Friday — the first time in recent memory he has missed a national executive meeting, according to BJP officials.
But observers say Advani might relent and attend the last day of the conference to symbolically validate Modi’s new expected role in a show of party unity.
A senior party leader, Uma Bharti, who has voiced reluctance about naming Modi as candidate for prime minister, did not attend the meeting of some 300 party members while former BJP Defense Minister Jaswant Singh was another no-show.
Indian newspapers quipped yesterday that the absent BJP leaders were suffering from “Namonia” — a reference to Modi’s nickname “Namo.”
Modi, whose political mantra is small government and strong governance, flashed the “V” for victory sign as he arrived at the meeting, seemly untroubled by the discord.