Modi issue overshadows BJP meet

The controversy surrounding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over two advertisements virtually hijacked virtually hijacked the two-day party National Executive that ended yesterday.

Patna: The controversy surrounding
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over two advertisements
virtually hijacked virtually hijacked the two-day party
National Executive that ended yesterday.

The resolutions and the debates at the conclave took a
backseat with the row involving Modi and his Bihar counterpart
Nitish Kumar taking the centre stage following the ad
blitzkrieg praising the Gujarat Chief Minister.

In one advertisement Modi was shown holding a hand of
Kumar and another listing the details of Gujarat government`s
aid to Bihar during the Kosi floods in 2008.

This riled Kumar no end that he cancelled a dinner he
was to hold for the top BJP leadership on Saturday night.
Kumar, who is heading a coalition government with BJP, is
wooing Muslims in the elections scheduled later this year and
does not want to be seen in the company of Modi.

Perhaps, no other crucial meeting of the BJP had
revolved around one man, relegating the issues challenging the
organisation.

There was a sense of unease in a section of party
leaders even before the meeting as Modi left no stone unturned
to project his larger-than-life persona with some
advertisements depicting him as a "Hindu Hriday Samrat" and
some others claiming that Muslims were well-off in Gujarat.

The maiden visit of Modi in Bihar after becoming was
preceded by a propaganda which provided fodder for the
detractors of Nitish Kumar to target him ahead of Assembly
elections in Bihar.

This came as an apparent embarrassment to Kumar, who
has been assiduously wooing the Muslims, constituting 16 per
cent of the state`s population.

PTI

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