Patna, Sept. 25: By deciding to flag off L.K. Advani’s rath yatra on October 11 from Sitab Diara — Jaiprakash Narayan’s birth place in north Bihar’s Saran district — chief minister Nitish Kumar is believed to have been operating “shrewdly” to converge the power balance in the BJP around its senior-most leader.

“The Lok Sabha elections are still three years away and there is no reason for anyone to throw his hat in the ring for the prime minister’s post. In stead of entering the fray for the PM’s position, the BJP leaders should concentrate on price rise and corruption, which are, arguably, going to be the cardinal issue ahead of the 2014 polls,” said a senior BJP leader.

The senior leader who is also close to Nitish clarified that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, by launching the sadbhavana fast without the sanction of the party’s core leadership, has virtually derailed the strategy that the BJP has been working out “assiduously” to nail the UPA-II in the long run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. A dominant section of Bihar BJP feels that Narendra Modi’s venture has harmed the party in the sense that it has re-injected the fear among the Muslims in states beyond Gujarat.

Now, the Bihar chief minister, who has, of late, earned accolades for several effective steps against corruption, is believed to calculate that by flagging off Advani’s rath yatra, he will earn the credit for giving a fresh lease of life to the issue of corruption and price rise that has got suppressed in Modi’s “high-voltage drama”.

“It is a simple interpretation. The Nitish-led NDA government in Bihar has launched a battle against corruption. The chief minister has decided to support Advani ji’s yatra to strengthen our battle against corruption,” deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi told The Telegraph, adding, “There is not hidden agenda behind it.”

“He (Nitish) will emerge a torch-bearer against corruption and price rise by flagging off Advani’s yatra,” asserted a senior JD(U) leader, adding, “Advani’s yatra — purely secular in nature addressing the concern of the common man — will also increase Nitish’s national acceptance for he will inaugurate it.”

Sources in the BJP also revealed that Advani might announce in course of his 40-day yatra across the country that he was not be in the race for the prime minister’s post.

“Such a situation is best suited to Nitish. It is known to all that the BJP will never project Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate for the fear of losing its NDA partners. But it is also known that it is not practical for the party to project Nitish for the top post as of now for the Bihar CM too might not be acceptable to several ambitious BJP and NDA leaders eyeing the top post,” said a JD(U) leader, adding, “It is better for Nitish to stay ahead of others in pushing the issues of national importance in the long run up to the polls rather than showing his proclivity for the position.”