SAD welcomes Modi's elevation as BJP's campaign panel chief

NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal on Sunday welcomed BJP's decision to anoint Narendra Modi as Chairman of its Election Campaign Committee for the 2014 polls, saying the decision would be "catalytic" in the alliance's victory march.

"The people of the country are looking towards National Democratic Alliance to save the country from the clutches of most corrupt UPA government. As Narendra Modi has been made Chairman of Poll Campaign Committee of BJP, the biggest alliance partner of NDA, it (the decision) would be catalytic in NDA's victory march in 2014 elections," SAD leader Sukhbir Badal said in a statement here.

This is the "beginning of decimation of corrupt, inefficient and insensitive UPA-II government from the Centre," he said.

The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister said that Modi has shown his capability and calibre in successful poll campaigns of Gujarat.

"We should utilise his services to effectively chalk out NDA's campaign, and projecting the failures of UPA-II," he added.

He also said the SAD has remained an inseparable part of NDA and would continue to support BJP in all its moves and decisions to oust Congress from power.

At its national executive meet held in Goa, the BJP today anointed Narendra Modi as Chairman of its Election Campaign Committee for the 2014 polls, a move considered just short of making him the prime ministerial candidate.