By IANS,
New Delhi : Making a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, the Congress Monday described him as a “scared leader” and wondered if he was a “mask” or a “convenient front” to promote Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party’s future prime ministerial candidate.
“The question arises – has Advani been indirectly shown the door? Is Advani no more or less than a mukhota (mask), a convenient front, a face and a mask for Modi? The mask is obviously needed because within NDA (National Democratic Alliance) itself Modi will not have immediate acceptability, and within the country Advani may not have acceptability, but at least within NDA, Advani is perceived to have more acceptability than Modi,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said to reporters here.
Referring to Modi being promoted as a candidate for future prime minister by some BJP leaders, Singhvi said: “This ‘majboor’ (helpless) leader (referring to Advani) is a scared leader because he has to rely on a supporting stick or crutch of Modi. He (Advani) has to be content with being the prime minister-in-waiting and reassure Modi that he shall be the future prime minister-in-waiting.”
“This is the BJP’s true ‘chal charitra’ (character) and ‘chehra’ (face). Advani is the mukhota (mask). He (Modi) has shown Advani the door,” Singhvi added.
BJP senior leaders Arun Shourie and Arun Jaitley have said that Modi was the party’s future prime ministerial candidate after the present aspirant, the octogenarian Advani.