The battle for leadership within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a new turn after the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a US-based think tank, said in a report that a direct contest between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi may be on the cards in the 2014 general elections.
The BJP leadership is keeping a close watch on the development, because there is a tussle between party members L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Modi, who harbour aspirations to be the prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. The comments from the US think-tank could make Modi a frontrunner for the post.
The report praised Modi for being the "best example of effective governance and impressive development…streamlining economic processes, removing red-tape, curtailing corruption and managing heavy investment in modern roads, power infrastructure and an annual growth of 11 percent," CRS members stated that Modi was denied a visa by the US.
"The BJP has already decided not to project anyone as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 elections. BJP is a party in which even a normal worker can aspire to lead the country one day," said party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The praise for Modi is significant because after the 2002 riots in Gujarat, the US government had denied a visa to the Gujarat chief minister in 2005. However, according to recent revelations by Wikileaks, US diplomats were constantly in touch with Modi during this period.
Meanwhile, the Congress party was not ready to give much importance to the report. It told Modi that the "US government still continues to deny him visas." "The Congress Party is in denial mode. Those who have launched a hate Narendra Modi campaign must read the report. It is the same US government that had earlier denied him a visa, that is praising the Gujarat chief minister," added Rudy.
The report said many expect Rahul Gandhi to be the Congress prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections. The report was released on September 1, but was made public by the Federation of American Scientists on September 13.
On the impact of Hindu terrorism in India, the report said there were overt signs of indigenous terrorism by Hindu fundamentalist groups, as these were involved in the Malegaon blast and the Samjhauta Express blast.
The CRS report also praised the BJP-NDA led government in Bihar. "Another positive example in 2011 has been Bihar, one of India's poorest states, where chief minister Nitish Kumar has won national attention through his considerable success in emphasising good governance over caste-based politics. He is credited with restoring law and order across much of the state, as well as overseeing infrastructure and educational improvements of direct benefit to common citizens projects," the report said.
The Congress on Wednesday slighted the "purported report" and chose to ridicule both L K Advani's 'yatra' and Modi's 'sadbhavna fast', saying this indicated an internal power struggle within the BJP.
