Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today dismissed reports of a rift in the party over who will contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, calling it a "media creation".
The remarks come after Dr Joshi, according to sources, confronted BJP chief Rajnath Singh over media reports that the party's prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi could contest the general elections from the said seat. The veteran leader is the sitting MP from Varanasi.
(Read)"The decision is taken by parliamentary board and the meeting will take place on 13th... every disciplined soldier accepts it... I will say what I have to in front of the board," the 80-year-old said.
Sources say Dr Joshi, at a meeting of the BJP's Central Election Committee yesterday, had quoted media reports on the controversy over Varanasi to ask Mr Singh why the party, if there was no decision on the matter, had not issued a clarification.
"The party would take a decision which will neither dent the prestige of our PM candidate nor compromise the party's winning chances," he said today.
The temple town had recently been awash with posters of Dr Joshi amidst a strong buzz that his party could pick Mr Modi as its nominee from Varanasi. The posters, which were later pulled down due to the model code of conduct, were widely viewed as a counter by Dr Joshi's supporters to that possibility. Dr Joshi is reportedly not inclined to surrender his seat.
(Read)But the senior leader rejected all speculation, saying, "There is no poster war, it's all mental fiction and nothing else."
Varanasi is not only considered a safe seat as a BJP stronghold, party workers also feel that if Mr Modi contests from here it will galvanise the entire UP region - called Purvanchal - to return to the BJP.