Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s observation about Sushma Swaraj being the best candidate the BJP can offer for Prime Minister will probably go into the category of general political interest. It has no particular contextual or strategic significance.
In fact, it’s hard to see why the Sena boss brought it up at all in an interview to his party mouthpiece when allusions to Ms Swaraj have been made in connection with the Reddy brothers, controversial iron ore barons now facing prosecution.
It has long been appreciated that there are several PM aspirants within the BJP, should the NDA come up trumps. Naturally, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha cannot be out of the reckoning. But it will be a surprise if Mr Thackeray is trying to say that he will accept only Ms Swaraj, and no other BJP leader, as the choice for PM.
The BJP has a tradition of indicating its choice of future leader at the beginning of the election campaign. But this time — given the uncertainties and bitter rivalries in its ranks — it may well think of waiting until the results come in. That will be a perfectly reasonable approach. If the NDA’s numbers are sufficient to form a government but the BJP’s component is low, the PM nominee could well be dictated by the rest of the NDA. The opposite is likely to hold good if the BJP gets respectable numbers.