9 Jun 2013
File pic
Patna: The BJP has confirmed that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was appointed the head of the party's election committee, will address an election rally in Patna late in October.
The Bihar visit will defy a political restraining order against Mr Modi by Nitish Kumar, who is the Chief Minister of Bihar, and runs his government in partnership with the BJP.
Mr Kumar and his party, the Janata Dal (United) have questioned the secularism of the Gujarat Chief Minister on account of the 2002 riots in his state in which hundreds of Muslims were killed during his first term."The BJP does not need certificates of secularism from anybody. Nor have we invited outsiders for their feedback," said BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain today in Goa, where the party announced the promotion of Mr Modi today as chief of its election committee. (Watch)The Bihar visit will defy a political restraining order against Mr Modi by Nitish Kumar, who is the Chief Minister of Bihar, and runs his government in partnership with the BJP.
"Allies will tie up with us only if we prove our strength in elections," said the BJP spokesperson, emphasising that Mr Modi's strength as a vote-getter is irrefutable.
Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey told NDTV from Goa that Mr Modi has also been requested to address 500 party workers in Bihar via conference call next month. Other leaders from Bihar said that they will urge the Gujarat Chief Minister to launch the BJP's national campaign from their state.
The JD(U) said that the decision to make Mr Modi its election chief is "an internal matter" of its ally, but warned that it will not accept Mr Modi as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
Because of Mr Kumar's opposition, Mr Modi last campaigned for the BJP in Bihar in 2005.
In 2010, the Bihar Chief Minister cancelled a dinner he was to host for BJP leaders after the party used archive photo of him with the Gujarat Chief Minister in publicity material for its national executive meeting in Bihar.
