Congress will not Declare Rahul Gandhi as PM Candidate: Digvijay Singh

NEW DELHI: The Congress will not declare Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, senior party leader Digvijay Singh hinted on Friday while dismissing suggestions that BJP's projection of Narendra Modi is a challenge to it.

He also did not say whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could be a candidate for the top post once again if the party wins next year's elections.

"We do not have a presidential form of government. Congress party does not declare PM or CM candidates before elections...Even in the Karnataka Assembly elections, we had not declared any CM candidate," Singh told PTI in an interview.

He was replying to questions why Congress was diffident about projecting Rahul Gandhi, why it should not project him and who is the PM candidate of Congress.

Singh also gave indications that the Congress was not averse to doing business with the Left after the next elections and apprehended that the advent of Modi could lead to communal polarisation in the polls.

Asked about BJP's elevation of Modi as its election campaign chief, just a step short of announcing him the prime ministerial candidate, Singh said, "We are not concerned. It is not an issue with us. BJP is free to take any decision. We are in the politics of ideology and not personality...Congress party does not believe in the politics of polarisation." Asked as to whether RJD was its natural ally in Bihar, Singh said it was for the Antony Committee to decide.

The fact remains that RJD chief Lalu Prasad was supporting the Congress President and the Congress even before 2004, he said.

To a query about the poll-plank of Congress for 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he said, "Our campaign theme will be on the basis of the work done in the last ten years and the work we will be doing in the next five years."

"UPA-II has managed to give a sustained growth even in the worst economic crisis the world is facing. UPA pumped more money in lot of development schemes that led to high spending in rural areas," Singh said.

He also rejected suggestions that UPA II's image suffered a jolt and cited Congress victories in assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, the states it wrested from the BJP.

"If the image is so badly hit, why the votes of Congress increased in every election post 2009 except in Goa and Bihar.

"While the Congress has added more than 100 seats in the earlier tally in the Assembly elections, BJP has lost not only states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, but also lost more than 90 seats since the last Lok Sabha election," Singh said.

Asked about UPA allies DMK and TMC deserting the alliance, he said that in a coalition whether be it UPA or NDA, there have been instances of allies, which had been initially supporting the government, leaving the coalition and there is nothing new in that.

Source: EconomicTimes

Narendra Modi to Contest 2014 Lok Sabha Polls from Gujarat, UP?

New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s poll campaign and strategy committee chief Narendra Modi is most likely to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from two states, reports said on Thursday.

If sources are to be believed then the firebrand BJP leader will be contesting the 2014 General Elections from two Lok Sabha constituencies, one in Gujarat and the other in Uttar Pradesh.

Party sources claim that BJP’s parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is keen on Modi contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh.

The RSS central leadership believes that it is important for the party to remain focussed on politically significant states like Uttar Pradesh, if the BJP aims to dislodge the Congress government from power at the centre.

That’s probably the reason why the RSS acted as a peacemaker between Modi and BJP veteran LK Advani, when the latter resigned from all party posts in the wake of Gujarat chief minister’s elevation as the party’s poll panel chief.

Another reason why the RSS wants Modi to contest and get elected from Uttar Pradesh is his growing criticism that he is only a leader of Gujarat and not acceptable outside his state.

Interestingly, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from the Amethi seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Modi's close aide and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah, who is the BJP’s in-charge for UP, has been given the responsibility to find the best possible option for Modi.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has taken a swipe at Modi and said that he is free to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from anywhere in Uttar Pradesh but not welcome in the SP-ruled state.

Replying to questions on speculation that Modi would contest from Lucknow or Varanasi, Yadav said: "He is free to contest from anywhere in the state though he is unwelcome as the people of Uttar Pradesh are peace-loving and would not like to be divided on communal lines."

Yadav has been critical of Modi, calling him a "media creation" and one who was divisive in his politics. Yadav had recently slammed a section of the media for giving undue publicity to Modi. He had said that the media ignored development in other states.

BJP leaders say that Yadav is rattled at the prospects of the "Modi juggernaut" rolling into Uttar Pradesh as it would imperil Yadav's Muslim vote bank, which would then be divided between the SP and the Congress.

With a history of tactical voting by Muslims in the state, even SP leaders are not ruling this out.

Yadav's SP has 22 MPs and the party is working to increase the number. He has repeatedly expressed his ambition to become the prime minister.

Source: ZeeNews.com

Narendra Modi to be Formally Named BJP's PM Candidate at End of July

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi will be formally named BJP's prime ministerial candidate by July end, ending all ambiguity on his projection as the party's face for the next general elections and setting the stage for a direct contest between the Gujarat chief minister and Congress scion Rahul Gandhi.

The party's parliamentary board will make an announcement to this effect, a person familiar with the matter said, adding that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the party's ideological mentor, had conveyed its backing for Modi to senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

RSS, which is currently holding a three-day meeting in Amravati, will complete the conversations with its various offshoots on Modi's projection as the prime ministerial candidate, added the person, who did not wish to be named.

Modi all but became BJP's unannounced face last month after his anointment as the chief of the party's national campaign committee. However, Advani's public opposition to Modi's anointment had led to some talk that BJP could refrain from formally projecting the chief minister ahead of the 2014 general elections.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, however, last week told Advani that the Sangh would go along with the overwhelming support for the Gujarat chief minister's bid. At the same time, the Sangh bosses assured Advani that his concerns over decision-making in BJP would be addressed by the party leadership. Modi, who is set to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, a seat currently held by Murli Manohar Joshi, is seen by his supporters as a candidate capable of swaying voters in the urban and fast-urbanising pockets across the country.

BJP's strategists believe the ruling Congress, which fared well in these seats in the 2009 polls, will lose out because of concerns over its governance and handling of the economy. "These votes, along with an above-par performance in our traditional strongholds, will significantly improve BJP's tally. This will help us overcome the limits of numbers," said a BJP leader, who did not wish to be named.

Modi's campaign will, therefore, focus on governance issues, drawing on his successful record as Gujarat's chief minister for 12 years, a period that has won him praise from several quarters for his administrative competence and achieving high growth rates. BJP leaders, who are in the process of sharpening the campaign message, said the party would not be distracted by the attempts to put Modi into an ideological straightjacket.

Modi is expected to be part of a sizeable share of the 100 major campaign rallies planned by the party after monsoon. He has already directed the state units to complete mobilisational efforts for these rallies by August-end.

A major realignment of forces is unlikely before the elections and the post-poll scenario will be decided by the numbers that the two national parties manage to win, the BJP leader said, adding that the rivalry between regional players will push them towards the party.

Source: ET

BJP Names Amit Shah to Mobilise Youth through Social Media

New Delhi: In a bid to tap the sizable youth population of the country ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP has given the task of mobilising them through social media to general secretary Amit Shah.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, in consultation with the party's Parliamentary Board which met on Thursday, decided to give the responsibility of reaching out to potential voters, especially the youth, through social media to Shah.

Shah, a close associate of BJP Election Campaign Committee chief Narendra Modi, has been a part of the poll campaign team of the Hindutva posterboy in Gujarat. Modi ran a strong campaign on social media like Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus.

Interestingly, general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy has been given the task of reaching out to people through radio campaigns.

Murlidhar Rao will be responsible for mobilising the youth, including the party cadre, across the country. General secretary Dharmanedra Pradhan, general secretary (organisation) Ramlal and Rajnath Singh's political advisor Sudhanshu Trivedi have been given the charge of organisational mobilisation and holding meetings of workers and office bearers belonging to the lower rungs.

BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will be responsible for preparing the "chargesheet" on the failures of the UPA government as well as the campaign material.

JP Nadda has been given the charge of mobilising professionals like doctors, engineers and the like across the country.

General secretaries Ananth Kumar and Varun Gandhi are also likely to be given important responsibilities.

Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari may be given the charge of poll-bound Delhi and Rajasthan.

Some important announcements are likely on July 8 when the Parliamentary Board meets again.

Source: ZeeNews.com

NDA to gain but UPA not far behind: The Week Magazine Survey

New Delhi: A survey by The Week magazine has predicted that NDA will win in 197 seats, UPA in 184 seats while other parties will get a total of 162 seats in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

As per the survey, whose sample size was not given, UPA's vote share will come down to 31.7 per cent from 37.2 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabha polls while NDA's vote share will go up from 23.3 per cent to 26.7 per cent in the general election next year.

The vote share of other parties which was 39.5 per cent in 2009 will go upto 41.6 per cent.

The survey said 32 per cent people felt Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be the best Prime Minister followed by Manmohan Singh (15 per cent) and Rahul Gandhi (13 per cent).

Eight per cent people opined that Sonia Gandhi would be the best Prime Minister while five per cent each supported Mayawati and L K Advani for the top job followed by Mulayam Singh Yadav (4 per cent), Nitish Kumar (3 per cent) and Mamata Banerjee (3 per cent).

On who will be the best person for the post of Prime Minister among BJP, the survey said 56 per cent supported Narendra Modi while L K Advani got support of 15 per cent followed by Sushma Swaraj (10 per cent), Rajnath Singh (4 per cent) and Nitin Gadkari (3 per cent).

Among the Congress leaders, 39 per cent of those surveyed felt Rahul Gandhi will be best person for the top job while 25 per cent supported Manmohan Singh and 18 per cent supported Sonia Gandhi. Five per cent of those surveyed supported P Chidambaram as PM while three per cent supported A K Antony.

Asked if Third Front leads the Government then who will best suited for the job, 19 per cent supported Nitish Kumar while Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee got support of 14 per cent of those surveyed.

60 per cent of those surveyed said political parties and alliances should announce their PM candidate well in advance while 26 per cent thought otherwise.

74 per cent respondents felt elections should be held in May 2014 as per schedule while 19 per cent said polls would be held early.

Asked about the crucial issues, 21 per cent said uplift of poor while 17 per cent were of the view that providing basic facilities like water, electricity and roads will be the main issue.

13 per cent felt price rise will be another key issue.

Source: ZEENews.com

BJP may Field Narendra Modi from Varanasi to Win over Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi is likely to contest the next Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi, a move that points to the strategy of BJP's presumptive prime ministerial candidate to help the party recapture its lost ground in the Hindi heartland.

Confirming the choice of the holiest of cities for Hindus, after months of speculation over constituencies, including Lucknow and Allahabad, a senior leader said the Gujarat chief minister was willing to step out of his comfort zone to make a larger impact by contesting from the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for 80 Lok Sabha seats. The constituency is currently held by former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi, who is likely to be offered an alternative seat as he makes way for Modi.

BJP, which had won just 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 polls, is banking on a campaign around Modi in the state, said the leader, who did not wish to be named.

The state had swayed in BJP's favour in the 1990s when the party approached the electorate with the message of Hindutva, but it has steadily slipped out of hand.

Upper Caste Voters: This was after the ascendancy of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party. The Congress' meltdown that helped the BJP's growth in the last decade has been working in favour of the two regional outfits. But with Modi entering the fray in Varanasi, BJP's strategists expect the upper caste voters to return to the party fold, especially since both the SP and the Congress aggressively woo the numerically preponderant Muslim community in the constituency.

"The upper castes, which had gravitated to other outfits, will get a new option with the BJP coming up with a credible face in the state after a long time. Modi's candidature will increase our capacity to reach out," said a BJP leader, adding that the party will also get an opportunity to flaunt Modi's identity as a leader from the Other Backward Classes. "The non-Yadav backward voters that supported the BJP in the past will also find Modi appealing," the leader said, pointing to Bihar, where the BJP is using the same ploy to undercut JD (U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's hold over the community.

Modi, who has been struggling to live down the anti-Muslim riots under his watch in Gujarat in 2002, has fashioned his campaign around good governance and economic development. BJP's strategists, however, believe the subtext of communal and caste appeal will resonate with the party's traditional voters in not just Uttar Pradesh but the entire Hindi heartland.

Modi's candidature can be troublesome for the ruling SP, which is eyeing the entire chunk of Muslim votes, a BJP strategist said, reasoning that in a direct combat between the BJP and the Congress, the Congress could emerge as a claimant for the community's votes.

Source: EconomicTimes

Dotcom Poster Boys Set to Steer Modi's Internet Drive for 2014 Election

BANGALORE: Narendra Modi has enlisted India's original dotcom poster boys Rajesh Jain and BG Mahesh to drive his social media campaign in the run-up to next year's general elections.

Jain, who famously sold IndiaWorld to Sify for Rs 499 crore triggering a dotcom rush in the late '90s, and Mahesh, who founded IndiaInfo and OneIndia, are putting together a 100-member content and technology team in Bangalore to drive Modi's internet campaign.

The 2014 Lok Sabha elections will not be the first in India's history to be fought in the era of social media, but it will certainly be the first national-level polls to be conducted since social media came of age. India's more than 140 million users, which political analysts say is Modi's core constituency, is the fastest-growing internet traffic globally.

And no matter which side of the fence you're on, there's no getting away from the fact that Modi's social media cache is higher than anybody else's in the land - certainly higher than the Congress's.

In 2010, Jain's Netcore acquired Mahesh's Greynium Information Technologies, the owner of Indian language portals OneIndia, and classifieds business click.in and the two are using their cumulative internet and business acumen to push Modi to power.

Rajesh Jain declined to comment on the story, while Mahesh could not be reached despite repeated efforts.

Jain, an Indian web industry pioneer, is well-known to be a BJP supporter. "He has committed his life to the BJP. He has made all the money he wanted to, and he wants to use it to get this party to power.

He is also extremely internet savvy, and if he's driving his social media campaign, it would not surprise me at all. Rajesh has been thinking this way since 2006, if not earlier," says a veteran Bangalore-based writer and communications consultant, who worked with Jain in the past on a mobile solutions company.

Jain and Mahesh are widely reported to have been on a recruitment drive to seed Modi's social media campaign with relevant content. "I got a call from Mahesh a month ago asking if I want to join Modi's social media campaign," said a 32-year-old media consultant in Bangalore, who didn't wish to be named.

Jain's popular blog makes no bones about his support for the party or for Modi. A post from early 2012 says: "It has to be a '275 election', which means one of the national parties (Congress or the BJP) needs to get majority on its own. The approach one has to take to get to 275 is very different from trying to get to 160-175 seats... At a basic level, all parties are probably similar, even as ideologies and approaches differ. What will change the discourse is the leadership the parties put on offer. In this context, I want to see how I can help the BJP get to 275."

Source: TOI