It will have impact on voters… I have no doubt about it”. Sinha reached this conclusion after travelling across the country. There is a strong demand from common people and workers that Modi should be declared PM candidate, he says.

BJP President Rajnath Singh agrees, “Nobody can deny that Modi is an extremely popular leader at the national level”, but evades the question of projecting him as the party’s candidate for the top executive’s post. “The Parliamentary Board will take a decision on the issue of projecting a prime Ministerial candidate”, he says. Board member Venkaiah Naidu also endorses Singh’s view.

Suspended BJP leader Ram Jethmalani, too, bats for Modi and says the Gujarat Chief minister is “impeccably secular”. Jethmalani, as per habit, is a master of making truth out of untruth. Modi may be emerging as a popular leader but nothing can be far from truth than calling him secular. What has tarnished Modi’s image beyond repair is the stigma of being a communal leader. The blood stains of 2002 Gujarat riots cannot be washed away with “all the perfumes of Arabia”.

Modi is a red rag to minorities. They will desert the BJP as the rats leave a sinking ship if Modi is brought to the fore for the top post. Already BJP does not have much following in the minorities but whatever sympathy they have for the saffron party will vanish in the thin air in the event of floating Modi’s name. The minority will also desert any party which allies with the saffron party, or even attempts to do that.

There is no doubt if the BJP projects Modi, the party will almost become ally-less. Look at the sharp reaction of the JD-U leaders at the mere reports of declaring Modi as PM candidate. The JD-U is the second largest constituent of the NDA led by the BJP and it has strong reservation at the projection of Modi for the top slot.

The JD-U President and convener of the NDA, Sharad Yadav, has warned of the dire consequences in the event of projection of Modi and asked the BJP leaders to remember that electoral alliance was a serious matter. Modi is red rag for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has a sizeable following of Muslims. He had refused to share a public platform with his Gujarat counterpart in the last Bihar Assembly elections.

Nitish Kumar is badly hurt at the talk of projecting Modi as PM candidate and warned that the JD-U would be compelled to pull out of the NDA in the event of such a scenario. Yashwant Singh added fuel to the fire by virtually challenging the Bihar Chief Minister, saying that JD-U is free to leave the NDA if it so desired. He also wondered how Nitish Kumar could call Modi communal without tarring the entire BJP with the same brush.

Even BJP’s long-time and closest ally, Shiv Sena, does not approve of Modi’s candidature for the top post. It has instead suggested that the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, should be projected as the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate. BJP’s only ally, the Akali Das, is not averse to projection of Modi but it seems nervous about endorsing Gujarat Chief Minister’s name. The fact, however, remains that the saffron party has virtually no base in Punjab.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, has good relations with Modi but she is not a constituent of the NDA. One wonders if she would support Modi when it comes to declaring the PM candidate. She would not like the minority votes to move away from her party.

As it looks now the BJP appears, as if, it can go it alone and decide its prime ministerial candidate. The harsh reality is that it is not in a position to do that as the numbers are not in its favour. The party needs to carry its allies along with it, and not create a sense of alienation before the race for the next government really begins.

Once the BJP has got its allies on its side, then perhaps it can begin discussions of who will be prime ministerial candidate. Naming someone now, in the hope that it will create a wave is politically an impractical proposition. At this age, the importance of allies cannot be overemphasized and the BJP must reinvest itself if it is to be seen as the natural leader of the NDA. (IPA Service)