Indian hardliner Modi to front India's opposition
PANAJI, India, June 09 (AFP) - Controversial Indian politician Narendra Modi was chosen Sunday to front the main opposition's campaign for general elections in 2014, boosting his chances of becoming the nation's next prime minister.
Modi, chief minister of the thriving state of Gujarat for more than a decade, was selected to head the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) election panel, despite opposition from some of his senior colleagues.
The Hindu nationalist BJP, the main opposition in parliament, named Modi after a two-day meeting of the national executive called to prepare for elections due in May. “I have today appointed the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the chairman of the election campaign committee,” BJP President Rajnath Singh told reporters at the meeting held in the coastal state of Goa.
Modi, a hardline Hindu nationalist, said he was “honoured and extremely grateful” for the support, in a message on his official Twitter account.
“Senior leaders have reposed faith in me. We will leave no stone unturned,” he wrote.
The post is seen as a stepping stone for Modi in his quest to be named the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, despite concerns that he would be seen as a divisive figure over his failure to stop deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002.
I have today appointed the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the chairman of the election campaign committee