BJP’s old warhorse L.K. Advani, who had refused to go by the RSS script of giving second term to former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, is apparently warming up to the latter who himself does not have a good equation with Mr Modi.
Many BJP leaders feel that Mr Advani’s calculated move to first rank Mr Chouhan’s development related works higher than Mr Modi’s and then equating the Madhya Pradesh CM with Mr Vajpayee only give substance to the speculation that Mr Advani wants to switch his parliamentary constituency from Mr Modi’s Gujarat to MP.
Despite pressure from the RSS and a section within the saffron party, Mr Advani has consistently refused to rule himself out as a likely prime ministerial candidate.
In fact, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had recently asserted that Mr Advani cannot be ruled out as the BJP’s PM candidate for the 2014 elections.
Though there was no reaction from the BJP on Mr Advani’s statement in Gwalior on Saturday, where he had lavishly praised Mr Chouhan and compared him with Mr Modi, it was the Congress which said there is a “civil war” in the BJP over PM candidate issue.