Patna:
The irrepressible Shatrughan Sinha has set the cat among the pigeons just when the RSS seemed to have enforced an acceptance of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's rising stature in the BJP.
The actor-turned-politician suggested today that any person aspiring to be chosen as the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister, read Mr Modi, must have the blessings of LK Advani, who he described as the "tallest, most seasoned and mature leader" who must be at the "helm of affairs" in the party.
The party had made no announcement yet, Mr Sinha pointed out, though he admitted that Mr Modi seemed to be the frontrunner. He said the candidate must be picked by the BJP's parliamentary board, a team of top 12 party leaders.
The MP from Patna, who has rebelled often, also wondered aloud why other stalwarts like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi and even Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, were not in the forefront as the party prepares for general elections 2014 and assembly elections later this year under the stewardship of Narendra Modi, who is the BJP's election campaign committee chief.
Mr Sinha, who has praised Narendra Modi's governance as Gujarat Chief Minister in the past, did not find place in Team Modi 2014; though the party has set up 20 committees to handle different aspects of campaigning. Leaders like Ms Swaraj, Mr Jaitley and Mr Joshi have been given prominent roles on those committees.
Mr Sinha's comments came only a day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had hailed Mr Advani as the BJP's supreme leader, as murmurs of discontentment at Mr Modi's elevation, that had been squelched by BJP's ideological mentor RSS in the last few weeks, seemed to surface again.
Many see Mr Modi's recent promotion as a natural progression on the way to being named the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
LK Advani had publicly sulked last month when Mr Modi's promotion was announced. The RSS had to intervene to bring him around.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has advised the BJP to ensure that its electioneering is about "collective leadership" and seniors like Mr Advani are given an important role. But he has also reportedly warned that there must be no more rebellion against Mr Modi.
The actor-turned-politician suggested today that any person aspiring to be chosen as the BJP's candidate for Prime Minister, read Mr Modi, must have the blessings of LK Advani, who he described as the "tallest, most seasoned and mature leader" who must be at the "helm of affairs" in the party.
The party had made no announcement yet, Mr Sinha pointed out, though he admitted that Mr Modi seemed to be the frontrunner. He said the candidate must be picked by the BJP's parliamentary board, a team of top 12 party leaders.
The MP from Patna, who has rebelled often, also wondered aloud why other stalwarts like Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi and even Yashwant Sinha and Jaswant Singh, were not in the forefront as the party prepares for general elections 2014 and assembly elections later this year under the stewardship of Narendra Modi, who is the BJP's election campaign committee chief.
Mr Sinha, who has praised Narendra Modi's governance as Gujarat Chief Minister in the past, did not find place in Team Modi 2014; though the party has set up 20 committees to handle different aspects of campaigning. Leaders like Ms Swaraj, Mr Jaitley and Mr Joshi have been given prominent roles on those committees.
Mr Sinha's comments came only a day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had hailed Mr Advani as the BJP's supreme leader, as murmurs of discontentment at Mr Modi's elevation, that had been squelched by BJP's ideological mentor RSS in the last few weeks, seemed to surface again.
Many see Mr Modi's recent promotion as a natural progression on the way to being named the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
LK Advani had publicly sulked last month when Mr Modi's promotion was announced. The RSS had to intervene to bring him around.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has advised the BJP to ensure that its electioneering is about "collective leadership" and seniors like Mr Advani are given an important role. But he has also reportedly warned that there must be no more rebellion against Mr Modi.
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