Modi with Ambani at the summit. (AP)

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Jan. 14: Anil Ambani might have spoilt L.K. Advani’s Sankranti lunch just a little today when he pushed Narendra Modi for Prime Minister.

“Narendrabhai has done good for Gujarat…. Now, imagine what will happen to the nation if he leads the nation…. A person like him should be the next leader of the country,” Ambani said.

Nor was his the lone voice at the Fourth Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit that pitched for Modi as Prime Minister.

Sunil Bharti Mittal said: “Chief minister Modi… can also run the nation.”

Tanvir Jaffri, whose father Ehsaan Jaffri was pulled out of his house and brutally murdered by a mob in Modi’s Gujarat seven years ago, is not surprised by the praise.

“After all, it is in their interest,” he says. “But we have to see the other side — industrial development is fine but what about social justice?” Tanvir asked.

Ehsaan Jaffri, a former Congress MP, had made frantic calls to police and politicians when rioters attacked Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad where he lived in 2002. Forty people were murdered in the housing complex during the riots that killed over 1,000 people across the state.

“As a riot victim, I cannot endorse the business houses’ idea to project Modi as prime ministerial candidate,” Tanvir said.

Ambani’s comment has upset Modi’s party too, but the riots were not the reason. The traditional Sankranti lunch was on at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, with Advani and other top leaders present, when the industrialist spoke in Ahmedabad.

“Elections are barely 70-80 days away and we are doing this firefighting. This is extremely hurting,” a senior leader said, summing up the party’s mood.

Advani is the BJP’s candidate for Prime Minister and although no one sees Modi posing a real challenge to him in the coming election, the party feels it could have been spared the controversy. As it is, it has been anxiously waiting for the desert storm created by Rajasthan veteran Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who too wants to be Prime Minister, to die down.

Rajnath Singh, the BJP chief, asked reporters to enjoy the Sankranti delicacies but didn’t comment on Modi. Advani and another senior leader, Murli Manohar Joshi, ate their lunch quietly. It was left to the spokespersons to respond.

Spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: “India Inc.’s choice is a vindication of Narendra Modi. This shows we have a capable leadership at the state level. An outstanding chief minister like Modi is acknowledged by the world community.”

Then, Rudy linked the success to Advani’s leadership. “All our chief ministers are doing well. They are following the Vajpayee government’s policies and Advaniji’s commitment to development and good governance,” he said.

Advani himself is more bothered by dissenting voices from other quarters than the praise for Modi because he believes the chief minister will not enter national politics before the next general election. Besides, he has cemented ties with Modi by hinting several times in the past that he would like the Gujarat leader to be his successor.

The BJP’s shadow Prime Minister would want to exploit Modi’s growing clout to his advantage and has said he would follow the Gujarat model of development if elected.

What is worrying for him are the sulking colleagues — Shekhawat attracted many BJP leaders during his stay in Delhi in the last couple of days, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

Another senior leader, Kalyan Singh, is also unhappy. A day after arguing that the country required strong leaders like Sardar Patel and Indira Gandhi, he said yesterday that the NDA government had made a mistake by not targeting terror camps in Pakistan after the 2001 Parliament attack. This is an indirect indictment of Advani, who was home minister then, as Vajpayee is out of the scene now.

Kalyan, who repeatedly said he wanted to see Advani as Prime Minister, also said the party should engage Shekhawat in a dialogue because ignoring senior leaders would harm it.