Shatrughan backs Modi for PM post

Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha member from Patna Sahib Shatrughan Sinha said here on Monday that he completely agreed with senior party leader Yashwant Sinha who had said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) should project Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general election.

Yashwant last week said Modi’s projection could swing the party’s fortune considerably. Therefore, he should be named the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate, even at the cost of breaking alliance with their ruling partner in Bihar, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U). “If some people leave, many others will join the NDA,” Yashwant had said in an oblique reference to Nitish Kumar.

Shatrughan, who was in Patna to attend an anti-tobacco mission programme on World Cancer Day, said he agreed with Yashwant. “By projecting Vajpayeeji in advance, the BJP had gained immensely. It can happen again if we decide on the leadership issue early,” said the actor-turned-politician, who had served as Union Health and Shipping Minister in Vajpayee’s Cabinet.      

Shatrughan’s assertion comes on a day when party chief Rajnath Singh made a last-ditch attempt to put a “blanket ban” on BJP leaders airing their views publicly on Modi.