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June 10th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
However, he is viewed with deep suspicion by others, particularly the large
Muslim minority.
Many within the BJP, including party veterans whose absence from Sunday’s
meeting in Goa became a media sensation, fear that he is too divisive to
lead the party back to power after nearly a decade in opposition.
Lal Krishna Advani, a stalwart of the BJP and a a former deputy prime
minister, resigned on Monday in apparent protest at Mr Modi’s promotion.
Indian media quoted from a resignation letter by Mr Advani, the BJP’s prime
ministerial candidate for the 2009 general elections, which made oblique
references to Mr Modi without naming him.
Mr Advani said he was “finding it difficult to reconcile with either the
functioning of the party or the direction in which it is going,”
according to the Press Trust of India.
“Most BJP leaders are concerned just with their personal agendas,”
he added.
The biggest hurdle for Mr Modi’s ambitions, however, will be winning enough
parliamentary seats for the BJP to lead a coalition government. The party
has little support in many key states.
If Mr Modi does run for the premiership, he could come up against Rahul
Gandhi, the heir of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty who was recently made vice
president of the ruling Congress party.
The Congress party, which has led a coalition government since 2004, is mired
in corruption scandals and is widely blamed for the country’s slowest
economic growth in a decade.
“We will leave no stone unturned for an India free of the Congress party,”
Mr Modi wrote on Twitter to his 1.7 million followers after his selection to
lead the BJP campaign.
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