India’s main opposition party has named controversial politician Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for elections due next year.
Mr Modi, who has been chief minister of Gujarat state since 2001, has long been seen as a rising star of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reports BBC.In June, he was chosen to lead the party’s campaign for the election. Mr Modi is credited with making Gujarat one of India’s most prosperous states.
But he is also accused of doing little to stop anti-Muslim riots in 2002 which left more than 1,000 dead – allegations he has always denied.
“I seek the blessings of millions of Indians to join our effort to steer the country out of these perilous days,” Mr Modi said on Friday after being nominated. Economic powerhouse
In June, he was chosen to lead the BJP’s election campaign for next year. Some senior party leaders including former deputy prime minister L K Advani opposed his appointment. But correspondents say Mr Modi has massive support both
within the party as well as among India’s middle classes and business community, who see him as a charismatic leader who has turned Gujarat into an economic powerhouse.
As a result, he has been re-elected twice as the state’s chief minister.
In recent months he has been courted by international investors and foreign diplomats, and his image is that of a clean and efficient administrator who is corruption-free.
Although he has escaped censure in the Gujarat riots so far, his close aide, Maya Kodnani, was convicted last year and sent to jail for 28 years.
The rioting began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire blamed on Muslims in the town of Godhra.
Ms Kodnani was not a minister at the time of the riots, but was appointed junior minister for women and child development by Mr Modi in 2007.
His critics have accused him of “rewarding her with the ministership” for her role in the riots.-UNB
