Ending speculation and internal jockeying, the BJP today brought charismatic and controversial Narendra Modi to the centrestage.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership, succumbing to the pressure from the cadre, elevated the Gujarat Chief Minister to the party’s Parliamentary Board. Modi returns to the BJP’s key political body after six years. He was sacked from the Board by Rajnath Singh during his previous stint as BJP president.

Announcing the new team that will drive the party’s strategy for the next general elections, BJP president Rajnath Singh did not spell out the exact role for Modi, but speculation began almost immediately that he would be the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. Sixty-two-year-old Modi is also a member of the Central Election Committee that takes crucial decisions including selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Rajnath Singh did not induct Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to either of these panels. A section of the party that was pitching Chauhan against Modi is apparently unhappy at the denial of these crucial berths to Chauhan. Significantly, senior leaders Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha failed to find a place in Rajnath Singh’s core team.

Modi era

However, BJP’s new-look core team clearly marks the Modi-era in the saffron party. His confidante and a key accused in the Sohrabuddin encounter killing case, Amit Shah, has been made a general secretary. Shah will oversee the party’s affairs in UP. Another Modi loyalist, former TV star and Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Smriti Irani, has been made a vice-president of the party.

Hoping to improve its tally in the Hindi heartland in the coming Lok Sabha polls, scheduled in 2014, the BJP has made firebrand Uma Bharti a vice-president and its own Gandhi — Pilibhit MP Varun — a general-secretary. Uma Bharti will be a key campaigner in UP, while the BJP is hoping Varun Gandhi will help blunt the Rahul factor in the State.

While the BJP’s moves are widely interpreted as the first step before Modi is declared the Prime Ministerial candidate, the path may not be smooth for the Gujarat leader. His first test may be the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, scheduled for May.

The BJP is facing an intense contest, from within the party too, in Karnataka. Though former Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda has been made a vice-president, the party will have a tough task retaining the State.

Challenge to party

PTI reports: Reacting to Modi’s elevation, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal charged the BJP with buckling under the pressure of the Gujarat Chief Minister, and said Modi will pose a challenge to his own party.

> jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

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