New Delhi, Apr 15: So Nitish Kumar has finally vented his feelings publicly. He does not want BJP to project Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 elections. And what is the reason? The reason is that JD(U) wants a secular candidate and Narendra Modi does not fulfill the criteria to be declared a secular politician.
But the question is - when the entire rank and file of the BJP is rallying behind Narendra Modi and is building pressure on the BJP leadership to declare Modi as its candidate for PM how can the party be different from Narendra Modi, in terms of political ideology and belief?
When the BJP workers across the country and the party's central leadership swear by the political philosophy of Narendra Modi, how can Modi alone be termed as communal, if at all, and not the party?
Modi is communal but BJP is secular – does this argument hold water given the fact that there is near unanimity in the BJP over Modi's projection for the top job in 2014 elections?
Nitish Kumar says that the PM candidate will be from BJP, as it's the largest constituent of NDA, but that BJP candidate should have secular credentials. Again the question is- which candidate he is referring to?
Which leader in the BJP's top echelons has ever disagreed with the political line of Narendra Modi? It's an open secret that Nitish Kumar has a soft corner for L K Advani and will not mind him being the BJP's PM candidate once again in 2014.
Many political critics have even pointed out that Nitish Kumar is actually batting on behalf of Advani who is still harbouring Prime ministerial ambitions. In fact, Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar's bête-noire and a shrewd politician, said it in so many words.
But how can Nitish forget the fact that it was Advani who introduced hard-line Hindutva as the primary political weapon of the BJP?
It was Advani who launched the Rath Yatra aimed at creating public opinion in favour of Ram temple at Ayodhya. And it was that rath yatra which paved the way for the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya.
