New Delhi:
Ruling himself out as his party's prime ministerial candidate, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today favoured Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the top job and also promised to back his candidature as party chief.
"I will never be a candidate for PM nor will I topple anybody. Modi has good potential to be BJP president and PM," Mr Gadkari told a private news channel.
Mr Gadkari, whose term as the BJP president comes to an end in December, said he is not interested in an extension of his tenure. "I am ready to work as an ordinary party worker. I will support Narendra Modi to take over the mantle."
Dodging questions on who will be the party's likely choice for the PM's post, Mr Gadkari said, "BJP is not a proprietary party and we will decide the PM's candidate at the appropriate time."
When asked whether the BJP should now launch Mr Modi on the national stage, Mr Gadkari said, "Narendra Modi has very good potential to be both the BJP President and the PM."
Mr Modi might be the BJP's best bet for a prime ministerial candidate, however, the 2002 Gujarat riots remain the one big blemish on Mr Modi's career. Many say, the Gujarat Chief Minister's amity mission, a fast to promote communal harmony and open letters to the people of his state in September last year, was a careful image-altering exercise as he gets set for the national stage in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Mr Modi's sadbhavana fast was all about him. He was the actor, director and script writer of the show. There were no BJP flags, no hoardings with smiling faces of Vajpayee, Advani and Gadkari - signalling that there was room for just one leader at the top in the party. Modi took the head start saying two is a crowd.
The fast was a result of the Supreme Court transferring a Gujarat-riots-related case to a lower court in the state, following which Narendra Modi tweeted, "God is Great". Suddenly, from a US think tank to BJP patriarch LK Advani, there was talk about Narendra Modi, possible future Prime Minister.