Narendra Modi, being one of the chief minister from BJP was speculated to be a PM candidate. After his exceptional victory in the 2012 Gujarat elections, his popularity amongst the general public as well as the BJP cadre grew exponentially.[5] According to an opinion poll conducted by India Today, Modi was the most preferred choice for PM candidate of BJP.[6] In early 2012 itself, Nitin Gadkari, the former president of BJP hinted that Modi could become the PM candidate.[7] Likewise, Sushma Swaraj, the LoP in Lok Sabha, also endorsed Modi as prime minister during the 2012 Gujarat election campaign.[8] Many media houses also reported that Modi is being considered as the PM candidate of BJP.[9] Former finance minister of India, Subramanian Swamy also urged the BJP to declare Modi as its PM candidate.[10] After Rajnath Singh became the BJP president in early 2013, he reorganised the parliamentary board, the top decision-making body of the party, and included Modi as a member.[11] He was also later appointed as the chairman of the BJP's campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.[12]
Support and opposition within BJP
There have been multiple leaders that openly supported the candidature of Modi, including many senior leaders. Nevertheless, there also has been opposition to this decision as well. The RSS, the parent organisation of the BJP, was reportedly supported the candidature of Modi. According to Ram Madhav, Modi "enjoyed the support of the people who wanted change"[13] However, there was also opposition to the declaration of his candidacy as well. For instance, senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister of India, Lal Krishna Advani was seemingly against his candidacy. Advani even praised Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and compared him with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first prime minister of India from the BJP.[14][15] Likewise, other senior leaders such as leader of opposition in Lok SabhaSushma Swaraj and former finance minister of India Yashwant Sinha were also opposed to Modi's candidacy. Although initially Swaraj endorsed Modi as prime minister, she later opposed declaring the candidature of Modi as it could be too early.[16] However, despite all the resistance, Rajnath Singh managed to pursue a lot of leaders and ensure that Modi becomes the official PM candidate of BJP.[3]
Events on the day of announcement
Modi was scheduled to participate in an event of a book launch in Gujarat, however, reports of cancellation of the schedule surfaced in media.[17] Modi was reportedly on his way to Delhi and visit the headquarters of BJP to attend a Parliamentary Board meeting. Besides this, as per media reports, Rajnath Singh also contacted Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Akali Dal president Prakash Singh Badal via phone call. He reportedly conveyed the message of a decision being made on the selection of Prime Minister candidate of the BJP. It was also reported that Advani was unhappy with the decision, and henceforth, Rajnath Singh also visited his house the same afternoon. Nevertheless, despite the efforts, Advani didn't attended the Parliamentary Board meeting. The same evening, Modi reached the BJP headquarters and subsequently a parliamentary board meeting was held. Soon after that evening, Rajnath Singh announced the candidature of Modi. During this even senior BJP leaders such as Murli Manohar Joshi, former BJP president Nitin [18][17]
Reactions from other parties
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