It’s a BJP and not a Modi wave, says Joshi

To BJP’s embarrassment, he said the Gujarat model of development can’t be applied to all states and that Jaswant Singh’s expulsion could’ve been avoided

BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has triggered a fresh controversy by questioning what his party calls a ‘Modi wave’ as well as the party’s decision to deny ticket to veteran Jaswant Singh from Barmer in Rajasthan.

He also suggested that the NDA may not replicate the ‘straitjacket’ model of development of one state (Gujarat) if voted to power but pursue a model that incorporates “the best practices from different parts of the country”.

“Modi is a representative of the party as a PM candidate... so it is not a highly personalised thing (the wave). It is a representative wave,” Joshi told the private television channel Manorama News.

His remark could embarrass the BJP, which believes a strong ‘Modi wave’ was blowing across the country.

Joshi said there was “no harm” in calling it a Modi wave but it really was “a sum total of what is happening inside the country”.

A sitting MP from Varanasi, Joshi was made to shift to Kanpur for Modi to contest from the holy city. As head of the BJP’s committee on mani- festo, Joshi had earlier insisted the party’s poll document was not a ‘Modifesto’ – a reference to describe Modi’s imprint on the manifesto.

On the Gujarat model, Joshi said there could not be a straitjacket model.

“In a country like India, what developmental model is true for Jammu and Kashmir or Arunachal Pradesh, may not be true for Kerala”.

The BJP leader also claimed that the decision to deny the party ticket to Jaswant Singh, now contesting as an independent, was not taken at the Central Election Committee, of which he is a member.