Patna, May 7: Amid the hullabaloo over the handshake, a BJP minister of Bihar has created a flutter by projecting Narendra Modi as the future Prime Minister.
At a function in Surat to mark Bihar Divas yesterday, health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey invited Modi to take over the reins of the country when the time comes.
“The entire nation is looking towards you (Modi). We request you to take on the leadership of the country. Bihar and its over 10 crore people are with you,” Choubey said in the presence of the Gujarat chief minister.
Both Nitish and Modi deny national ambition, but behind their rivalry lies an unstated competition for a possible national prize post the next general election, due in 2014. The Bihar Divas rallies organised by Nitish — the first was held in Delhi in March and the second in Mumbai last month — were seen as his “stepping out”.
The Surat rally yesterday was attended by thousands of people from Bihar — many of who work in the diamond industry in the prosperous Gujarat city — who chanted “Jai Bihar” and “Jai Narendra Modi”. But Nitish and his trusted deputy Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP were missing from the banners and posters put up for the event.
The Bihar BJP leadership, which has been trying to send the impression that all is well between the allies, took pains to distance itself from Choubey’s statement. Sushil Modi, while speaking to reporters today, declared that the Bihar Divas function in Surat was not a BJP affair.
“It was organised by local Biharis of Surat. They had invited Ashwini Choubey,” the deputy chief minister said, adding that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate was for the central leadership to decide.
Choubey, though, appeared belligerent. Asked about the Bihar state BJP leadership disowning the Bihar Divas celebrations in Surat, Choubey retorted: “Do I not represent Bihar BJP? I am a minister and integral part and parcel of the state leadership.” Senior party leader and national executive member of the BJP, R.K. Sinha, agreed. “Our revered colleague, Ashwini Choubey, has not voiced his individual opinion of Narendra Modi. He (Choubey) has expressed the views of millions of party cadres and people across the country, including Bihar,” Sinha said.
The damage appears to have been done. “Narendra Modi smartly used Nitish’s man to pitch himself above Nitish in the undeclared competition between the two for the national prize,” a senior Bihar BJP leader said. “It is not that Ashwini Choubey has spoken something accidentally. The BJP has a strong section in Bihar which wants to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister.”
Choubey is not perturbed by the storm he has generated. “Narendra Modi is loved by all in the NDA. The BJP-led NDA is sure to come to power in 2014. The Lotus (BJP symbol) is sure to bloom under the stewardship of the Gujarat CM. He (Narendra Modi) is best suited to lead India,” Choubey, who is still in Gujarat, told The Telegraph over phone.
But he didn’t forget to add a placatory line for his boss. “Narendra Modi too was full of praise for Nitish Kumar. Both leaders are symbols of good governance,” the health minister said.
Ever since the murmurs began about the tension between the allies in Bihar, the state leadership has been in fire-fighting mode. A Rajya Sabha berth was sacrificed amid a fuming BJP minister Giriraj Singh making a sarcastic comment that his party would be willing to donate all its seats to the JD(U) for the sake of development in Bihar. More recently, the just concluded BJP state meet in Begusarai passed a resolution virtually endorsing every word Nitish has said on his demand for special status to Bihar.
The party has also “banished” known and vocal Narendra Modi admirers such as Rameshwar Chaurasia from the state by making him in-charge of the BJP in Delhi.
“However, Choubey’s endorsement of Narendra Modi as the PM candidate has touched a raw nerve again,” admitted a senior BJP leader.
He pointed out that Choubey had never been a favourite minister of Nitish as the BJP man keeps ignoring the chief minister’s directive to be present at his janata darbar.
“There are BJP leaders who believe that if a divorce does take place, it should be sooner than later. It will enable the state BJP time to stand on its feet again,” said a senior BJP leader.
