Has the campaign to dethrone Nitin Gadkari from the BJP President’s post originated in Gujarat and headed by none other than Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi? An ideologue and former spokesperson for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, MG Vaidya, has said that the ‘needle of suspicion’ for the campaign points towards Gujarat and therefore Modi.
“Because the demand for the resignation of Gadkari and making Modi the Prime Minister were made by one person in a statement, it is natural for anyone to believe that the campaign is being run out of Gujarat, and if one says it is Gujarat then the needle of suspicion automatically points at Narendra Modi,” Vaidya wrote in his blog in Marathi.
The former RSS spokesperson said his conclusions were based on Ram Jethmalani’s comments last week seeking the dismissal of party president Nitin Gadkari and making Narendra Modi, a prime ministerial candidate.
Modi the only PM aspirant in the BJP? AFP
Vaidya, a former editor of Marathi newspaper Tarun Bharat, said there was nothing wrong with Modi wanting to be Prime Minister given that the objective of anyone in politics was to get to the highest possible post.
“As per news in yesterday’s newspaper it is clear that Lal Krishna Advani kept himself out of the Prime Ministerial race. Nitin Gadkari has said earlier that he is not in the race at all. In this context only news releated to Narendra Modi continues to feature extensively in the media,” he wrote.
“Modi hasn’t been seen in the media denying these reports. If anyone concludes from this that Modi has a desire to become the prime minister, then that person cannot be faulted,” Vaidya wrote.
The blog post comes at a time when ties between the RSS and Modi are reportedly tenuous. The Gujarat Chief Minister who is going all out for the upcoming state elections has been facing strained ties with the RSS, but as Firstpost had said there will be no effect in the state polls. The RSS has stood by Gadkari despite allegations of murky dealings in his Purti group.
