New Delhi: A Congress MP suggested on Friday that the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister as the PM candidate would be a godsend for the ruling party at the Centre.
"If BJP declares Modi as its PM candidate, it will bring Muslims, dalits and the weaker sections to Congress in large numbers and so also those who have been fed up with Hindutva politics", Hussain Dalwai, a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, told PTI.
Dalwai's claimed Modi's projection would polarise the political scenario and the worst sufferers would be the regional parties which would lose relevance as their support base like Muslims and dalits, would shift base.
He claimed this was because Modi's "communal" image would bring these sections sizably towards Congress owing to the realisation that the party alone would be able to uphold secularism at the national level due to its pan-India character.
Seeking to puncture the development plank of Modi, Hussein alleged farmers have suffered in Gujarat while industralists have prospered.
Dalwai's remarks came on a day when the BJP began a three-day conclave here and Modi's rising stock was visible when President Rajnath Singh gave him a special welcome at the national executive and noted that even the European Union is recognising his achievements.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 01, 2013, 20:54