Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s bid to position himself as the BJP’s PM candidate boomeranged yet again on Thursday, with severe criticism from within. Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani strongly objected to his criticising Dr Manmohan Singh on Independence Day.
The Shiv Sena and the JD(U) took a similar line.
Virtually supporting Dr Singh, Mr Advani said: “India has unlimited potential in future. This past decade will get over in 2014. We should be concerned about making the decade starting 2014 an unprecedented one in India’s history.”
And then came the swipe at the Gujarat chief minister: “I heard the Prime Minister today... Today, on Independence Day, without criticising anybody, we all should realise India has unlimited potential for the future.”
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said: “We have the entire year ahead to comment on what the Prime Minister says. Today we must listen to him and leave the criticism for some other day.”