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After Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad’s claim that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath actually wanted to become Prime Minister himself and was only setting up Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh today said that he would not be part of the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government if it came to power and would prefer to be BJP president.
"I am the president of the party. My responsibilities have been fixed beforehand. When I wasn't the president, I was in the government. My responsibilities are already decided and I think, in the BJP, I have many colleagues who are capable who should be given a chance in the government," Singh told NDTV in an interview.
The BJP chief's assertion comes amid speculation that he is trying to claim the legacy of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee - the BJP's gold standard of leadership - and project himself as a more "acceptable" alternative for those not comfortable with Modi's perceived hardline image.
Today, he dismissed these reports insisting that there is "no question" of a plan B.
"No matter what happens, under any circumstance, Modi will be India's PM. I want to clarify this as the president of the party. Because just by sitting in an office, people can't run a government," he said.
Rajnath Singh’s refrain through the campaign has been that it is Modi who is seeking the mandate on behalf of the BJP and that it would be morally wrong for anyone to supplant him.
This comes in the context of a perception that the BJP may be forced to change the face of its candidate for Prime Minister if it got fewer than 200 seats out of 543 in the Lok Sabha. It would be then forced to ally with some parties which see Modi as a extremist Hindu and a divisive figure.
