Non-Cong, non-BJP PM after 2014 polls: Advani

NEW DELHI, Aug 5:
Senior BJP leader L K Advani today dropped a bombshell saying that his party may not be able to form the next Government, remarks that come in the wake of Nitish Kumar opposing projection of Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate in the 2014 polls.
The 84-year-old veteran’s surprise remarks were immediately lapped up by Congress and other parties which said he has conceded defeat even before the race has begun while BJP leaders differed with Advani’s assessment.
Writing in his blog, Advani ruled out formation of a Government headed by the Third Front but said that a non- Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister heading a Government supported by one of these two parties is possible.
“A non-Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister heading a Government supported by one of these two principal parties is, however, feasible. This has happened in the past also,” he said but cautioned that such a dispensation may not last long.
Advani recalled a recent conversation he had with two Cabinet Ministers in which they had said they foresaw formation of a Third Front Government after the 2014 polls but the BJP leader did not agree with this view.
The remarks of Advani, who is said to be not sharing the rapport, which he once had with Modi, have been interpreted by observers whether it was intended against the Gujarat Chief Minister as Prime Ministerial candidate and his unhappiness with the State of affairs in the party.
After the recent National Executive meeting in Mumbai, which saw the coming together of party President Nitin Gadkari and Modi, Advani had written a blog expressing his unhappiness over the State of affairs in the party.
Advani’s blog has come against the backdrop of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seeking an assurance from the BJP that Modi will not be NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections.
Gadkari had said on Friday that he had discussed the issue of Prime Ministerial candidate with Kumar and assured him that no decision has yet been taken on Modi being the party’s choice for the top post.
Advani today cited the examples of Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral – all supported by Congress – as well as V P Singh, who was backed by BJP, holding the post of the Prime Minister.
But, he warned that such Governments have never lasted long. “There has been stability at the Centre only when the Government has had either a Congress or a BJP Prime Minister,” the BJP leader said.
Advani, who is still said to be nurturing the ambition of leading the party in the next elections, claimed that the national polity of the last 25 years has made it “practically impossible” for any Central Government to be formed without the support of either Congress or BJP. He ruled out on this basis a Third Front Government in 2014.
Taking a dig at Advani, Congress and other parties said he has conceded defeat even before the race has begun for the Lok Sabha elections while some BJP leaders differed with him.
“I can say about this blog that Advani himself has conceded defeat by saying there is a possibility that there can’t be a BJP Prime Minister in 2014. It means he has conceded defeat,” Congress leader Rajiv Shukla told reporters.
After this blog, how will a BJP candidate win? he asked. Advani had similarly predicted defeat for Congress before 2004 and 2009 elections but it came to power both times, he said.
Terming the BJP leader as a “reluctant general” going to war, Shukla said, “If anybody is reluctant then how can anyone win the war. What kind of a general is he who concedes defeat even before the battle?”
Another Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi said Advani’s statement reflected internal rift in his party and recalled the predictions made by him before 2004 and 2009 elections.
BJP National Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said there is a strong anti-Congress wave blowing in the country and BJP and NDA will get majority.
Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said what Advani meant in his blog is that BJP will become the single largest party after the elections and it would be normal in democracy that the single-largest party would have its prime minister.
Samajwadi Party leader Mohan Singh also toed the line taken by Shukla and said, “Even before the elections, BJP has conceded defeat.”
Sharad Yadav, who heads the JD-U, an NDA ally, refused to indulge in speculation ahead of the 2014 polls.
But, JD-U leader from Bihar Neeraj Kumar said, “We need a secular leader as PM and one who is sympathetic towards the cause of the backward classes.”
Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, “Whatever Advani is saying is on the basis of internal rift and feud that is going on in his party. In 2004 also he had predicted and that time his people were out on a feel good factor and India Shining campaign. What happened to that prophecy?” (PTI)