Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi might have catapulted to the national scene after a resounding victory as Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate for 2014 elections, but his candidacy was not short of receiving mixed reactions.
After the much-awaited announcement on Friday evening, former BJP ally, Janata Dal United, stood convinced of having taken the right decision by pulling out of the alliance with the party.
"No question of aligning with BJP again. We knew this was going to happen so we had quit NDA. Although its BJP's internal matter, but i feel it's been proven that BJP is being run by RSS," JDU president Sharad Yadav told ANI news.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) also accused the BJP of taking a hasty decision under the influence of Rashtriya Shiv Sena (RSS).
"Its not Narendra Modi its the RSS who is leading the BJP, RSS today stands for Rashtriya Sarvanash Sangh (national devastation organisation)," CPIM leader Brinda Karat told the news agency.
Social activist and 2002 Gujarat riot victim, Zakia Jafri, was not happy with the BJP's choice. "It is the BJP's decision, obviously I don't feel good about it. He was involved in the 2002 riots," she told ANI.
Interestingly, Congress seemed unperturbed and called it off as a regular statement by the BJP parliamentary board.
"Kuch log chahte hain ki waqt se pehle Diwali manaye so manaye. Humein kuch nahi kehna. (Its BJP's choice to celebrate Diwali before time. We don't want to comment on that)," Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters in Delhi.
Congress spokesperson Digvijaya Singh took a jibe at both, BJP and RSS. "BJP succumbs to threats of RSS and Ramdev and declare Modi as BJP's PM candidate. Do we still call RSS as a Cultural Organisation?" he tweeted.
"#NSUI Clean sweeps all seats at #SRCC (Sri Ram College of Commerce) on the day of NaMo being declared BJP's PM Cand(idate). Namo started his campaign from SRCC (referring to Modi' youth conference in SRCC on 6 February 2013), seems he's ineffective," read a statement from the Congress official Twitter account.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Derek O'Brien tweeted, "This is BJP's internal matter. They have their own views. We are a different political party, we have our own views."
Despite the strong opposition, Modi seems to be already gunning for some alliance in the political class through his PM candidacy.
"People hope for a vibrant India, I will support Modi ji and NDA in future," BS Yeddyurappa, former BJP strongman hinted at returning back to the party.
Yeddyurappa was forced to quit as Karnataka's Chief Minister in July 2011 over mining bribery charges. He formed Karnataka Janata Party late last year but the party performed badly during the May 5 Karnataka assembly elections.
Ousted BJP leader Ram Jethmalani was elated by the news of Modi's candidacy. "Don't you see the happiness on my face? I feel the country's future is in safe hands. I am happy," he told ANI.
Social activist and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi asked for Presidential election debate after Modi's elevation. "India has moved to de facto presidential election from de jure parliamentary form. Now do v look forward to TV debates between two candidates?" she tweeted.
Meanwhile, the whole team of BJP leaders, including its chief ministers in different states congratulated Modi.
"The leadership of Shri @narendramodi shall take India to great heights which this nation and our citizens deserve," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan, tweeted.
