J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah addressing a press conference
Congress ally Omar Abdullah admits there is a "Modi effect" in the country, but says to call it a "wave" is an exaggeration.
The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said today, "As far as the Modi 'wave' is concerned it will be a bit of an exaggeration, but it would be wrong on our part to deny any influence of Modi in the election. I won't use the word wave but yes there is a Modi effect. That affect may not so much be on the average voters but it is visible among the cadre of the BJP."
The BJP, which named Narendra Modi its Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014, insists that a "Modi wave" is sweeping the country in the run up to the general elections; party leader Kirti Azad seemed pleased with Mr Abdullah's assessment and said the chief minister has "accepted the truth."
Mr Abdullah is the first UPA ally to talk about a perceived "Modi impact" ahead of the national elections due by May, and a string of state polls this month and the next. His party, the National Conference, rules Jammu and Kashmir along with the Congress and his father is a minister in the UPA government at the Centre.
Weeks ago, the 43-year-old Chief Minister said in an interview, "I think it would be foolish for us (UPA constituents) to ignore the Modi factor. In fact, it would be a dangerous mistake."
He also suggested in that interview that the UPA, including his own party, had failed to offer an alternative discourse.
The "Modi wave" claim of the BJP has rattled several political rivals.
Last week, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP in June over Narendra Modi, had
made a Hitler reference while deriding BJP's claims of "a Modi wave" sweeping India.
Mr Kumar said, "an associate of Hitler's said if you repeat a lie a 100 times, it is accepted as the truth. This is what they are doing."
Earlier, Finance Minister P Chidambaram
had noted that Mr Modi had united BJP's rank and file and was "gaining some traction" among the youth.