BJP leaders in damage control over Advani

NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leaders scrambled on Saturday to placate a miffed L.K. Advani after the veteran leader openly protested against the party anointing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections on Friday.
“Advaniji never told me he is opposed to Narendra Modi being the PM candidate,” party President Rajnath Singh said on Saturday. Advani had skipped the Friday meeting and later sent a letter to the BJP president saying he was “disappointment” with his way of functioning. “Every family has a right to its disagreements,” Singh said.
Singh’s statements followed a series of visits by other leaders of the party, including Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Ravi Shankar Prasad to Advani’s residence on Saturday. Their meeting came amid reports that the 85-year-old leader might release a new blog voicing his dissent. But emerging after a 90-minute meeting, Swaraj tried to play down the divide and told reporters that, “no one is upset.” Ravi Shankar Prasad, who met Advani in the evening, said, “Advaniji will always support the BJP.”
Earlier this week, Advani had reportedly warned Singh that the Modi announcement will plunge the BJP in to a “political disaster.” After the announcement on Friday, Modi headed straight to Advani’s residence to seek his blessings. But neither leader spoke to reporters after the 30-minute meeting. Modi is one of India’s most polarizing politicians, tainted by deadly anti-Muslim riots on his watch in 2002 but also credited with turning Gujarat into an economic powerhouse.
Newspapers Saturday splashed Modi’s nomination on its front page. “BJP Crowns Modi. Will India Follow?” asked The Economic Times in a headline.
Modi remains under a ban from entering the United States imposed in 2005 over the riots.
The Press Trust of India on Saturday quoted a US state department spokeswoman as saying there was “no change” in Washington’s visa policy toward Modi.
The spokeswoman said Modi was “welcome to apply for a visa and await a review like any other applicant” but added it would be “grounded in US law.” Modi has become a hero of middle-class India, hailed as a business-friendly modernizer who could revive a sharply slowing economy while the BJP hopes he can end the party’s near-decade in the political wilderness.
After his nomination, Modi, 62, returned to his home state to supporters’ cries that “the lion of Gujarat has arrived.” “The BJP has become the only ray of hope for the common people,” the charismatic orator said in a speech late Friday.
“Only the BJP has the capacity to bring our country out of these (economic) crises and take it to new heights of development,” he said.
Modi is expected to be pitted in campaigning against Congress heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi, 43, whose family has given India three prime ministers.
But Modi’s pan-India appeal and ability to erase memories of the riots remain an issue while there are doubts about Gandhi’s ability and desire for the job.
Polls point to a fractured election outcome in, which smaller regional parties with different agendas, which rely on Muslims and other religious minorities for support could end up with an upper hand.
While former BJP premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee was known for his “consensus” touch in forging alliances, Modi’s brand of hard-line Hindu politics are seen as discouraging prospective coalition partners.
Regional leader Nitish Kumar, Bihar state’s chief minister and seen as a prime ministerial contender under a so-called “Third Front scenario” said Saturday that India will never accept a “divisive” candidate.
While a majority-Hindu nation, India also has 130 million Muslims out of a population of 1.2 billion and no party can afford to alienate them.