On a day when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said he had not dreamed of becoming the Prime Minister and Congress took the opportunity to berate him, referring to a letter by suspended cop D G Vanzara, BJP leaders were dismissive of the letter, saying the debate over the matter was farcical.
“The police officer has been in jail for six years. He is an accused. How can the state protect him?”
Meanwhile, NDA ally Akali Dal also asked the BJP to announce the PM candidate at the earliest. “BJP should declare the PM candidate... whosoever the person may be, we are with the BJP’s choice,” Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal said in Chandigarh.
The Congress was quick to react to Modi’s remarks. Party General Secretary Gurudas Kamat said that former cop Vanzara’s letter has brought out the “real character” of Modi.
Kamat, in charge of party affairs in Gujarat, said that Modi’s remarks showed the realisation in the Chief Minister that “he cannot create a dent in Indian politics beyond the borders of Gujarat where he has managed to win by fooling the people of the state”.
While, the debate over his likely announcement as the PM candidate is still raging, Modi has his schedule chalked out for the month. He will address a rally in Ambikapur in Chattisgarh on September 7, Jaipur on September 10, and Rewari (Haryana) on 15 september, youth convention in Trichy (Tamil Nadu). He will also address NRIs in USA through videoconferencing and an advertising association’s convention in Mumbai on September 30.