Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to clarify its stand on the prime ministerial candidate for the general elections and demanded that a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) be convened soon.

An editorial in Saamna newspaper, the Sena’s mouthpiece, said the BJP had the right to nominate its candidate for prime minister but it could not take a decision on its own on the issue. While a section of the party was promoting Narendra Modi as PM candidate, top leaders like Rajnath Singh, L. K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj should clarify their stand once and for all, said the editorial. “The confusion should be cleared by convening a meeting of the NDA at the earliest.”

While the scramble among various prime ministerial aspirants in the NDA, even before the elections were announced, was not a good sign at all, Saamna urged the NDA constituents to exercise restraint on the issue. It also added that the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had publicly stood behind Manmohan Singh as the next prime ministerial candidate even though they held different views in private.

The Sena, however, absolved Modi of the Gujarat riots and said the riots were a reaction to the burning of the Sabarmati Express. “Had even Keshubhai Patel or Shankarsinh Vaghela been in Modi’s place, the reaction would have been the same.” Unlike the late Sena chief Bal Thackeray or the party itself, Modi did not openly side with the Hindus, it said.

Those Hindus who were aggressive are now in jail and have no one to save them. Even those who took on terrorists are in jail. “What can one make of this,” the editorial said.

It also warned that by supporting one particular candidate who could help bring in a few votes, the allies who have stood by BJP for years will drift away resulting in the loss of far more seats for the NDA.

The Shiv Sena has come out with the editorial after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal-United, a constituent of the NDA, said that a candidate for the top job in the country should have a “secular credibility beyond doubt” for the next general elections.

The late Thackeray senior had expressed the party’s willingness to support Sushma Swaraj as the next candidate for the prime minister.

By Pamela Raghunath Correspondent

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