33 minutes when Rajnath Singh, not Narendra Modi, was BJP's poster boy

The BJP, accused by its critics of making Narendra Modi the sole point of its campaign, was today left to explain confusing signals from two posters tweeted by its chief Rajnath Singh.

At 1:17 pm, Mr Singh tweeted an unseen poster starring himself, with the words "Ab Ki Baar, Bhajapa Sarkar (Time for a BJP government)." The campaign, which missed the usual Modi image, seemed to respond to criticism that the BJP is becoming a one-man show.

But 33 minutes later, Mr Modi was back on the forefront with the BJP chief re-tweeting the official party poster, with the slogan "Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar (Time for a Modi government)." 

The slogan is part of a nationwide billboard campaign that promises to end price rise and corruption if a Modi-led government comes to power after the April-May election.

Those who caught on to Mr Singh's switch asked instantly in tweets whether the BJP had "dropped the earlier slogan" or whether the different tweets reflected an inadvertent mistake.

BJP sources claimed that the first tweet was an error. Sources close to Rajnath Singh said the first poster was for his own social platform, not for public release.

But at a time the party is fending off barbs about Mr Modi eclipsing all other leaders, a poster that projected Rajnath Singh raised speculation of a possible course correction.

The party had yesterday disowned a controversial "Har Har Modi" slogan after religious leaders objected to the use of a centuries-old chant for Hindu god Shiva to promote the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

"Some enthusiastic supporters are using 'Har Har Modi...'. I respect their enthusiasm but request them not to use this slogan in future," Mr Modi tweeted.

Earlier this month, the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, cautioned its cadre against "chanting NaMo, NaMo", a moniker based on the first syllables of Mr Modi's name. The RSS frowns on what it calls a "personality cult" in the BJP, stressing that no individual is bigger than the organisation.

Narendra Modi to contest Lok Sabha elections from one seat in Gujarat: BJP

The BJP on Thursday announced that Chief Minister Narendra Modi will contest elections from one seat in the state, without ruling out the possibility that he may fight on a second seat from Uttar Pradesh.

“I can definitely say that Modiji will fight elections from one seat in Gujarat,” state BJP general secretary Vijay Rupani told reporters in Ahmedabad.

“There has been a clamour to invite Narendra Modi to fight elections from four main cities of the state — Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat. Our party workers wish that he should contest from Gujarat,” Rupani said.

“Our (state BJP) parliamentary board had met over the last four days in which it was finalised that Modi would contest from one seat in Gujarat,” he said, adding that the decision on which seat he will contest is yet to be taken.

When asked if Modi will also contest from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leader said, “I do not know anything about that seat, but it will be decided by our central parliamentary board.”

There has been lot of confusion on from which seat Modi will enter the poll fray.

The BJP prime ministerial candidate is in Delhi to attend the central parliamentary board and central election committee meeting.

However, state party leaders said that candidates for Gujarat seats will not be discussed in those meetings on Thursday.

In reply to a question on whether party veteran L.K Advani will be contesting from Gandhinagar, from where he holds the seat for five terms, Rupani said, “The central parliamentary board will decide about it.”

“We have not finalised panel of names for the Lok Sabha seats in the first round of meeting of parliamentary board. We will sit again after Holi festival to do that,” he said.

BJP Gujarat unit’s parliamentary board had met on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the residence of Modi, in his
presence.

“Our (state) parliamentary board is likely to meet again to finalise the names of panels of candidates for the 26 Lok Sabha seats,” state BJP spokesperson Harsad Patel said.

Narendra Modi free to apply for visa: US

WASHINGTON: BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was free to apply for an American visa and a decision on it would be made on the process that we have in place, according to a senior US official. 

"We said he (Modi) is free to apply for a visa, and we'll make a decision based on the process that we have in place here," state department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters at her daily news conference on Friday. 

In 2005, the state department had revoked a visa that Modi had for travelling to the US in the wake of the 2002 riots in Gujarat. 

The US has repeatedly said there is no change in its long-standing visa policy relating to Modi but he is free to apply for a visa and await a review like any other applicant. 

When asked about comments made by Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in a recent interview on 1984 riots, Harf said, "I haven't seen those comments."