Uma takes a dig at Modi: Popularity is not enough to become PM

Against the backdrop of BJPs most popular leader Narendra Modis bid for BJPs prime ministerial candidature,party vice-president Uma Bharti Wednesday sought to fish in troubled waters suggesting that popularity was not sufficient to become PM.

She,in fact,reasoned that she was also a popular leader but that did not mean she could be the prime ministerial candidate. Crowd-pulling capacity alone cant be the criterion. Several BJP leaders are big crowd-pullers. Modi is one,so is Advani,Sushma Swaraj. I am also a crowd-puller, she said,without commenting on whether Modi fits the bill as BJPs PM candidate.

Her remarks added to the voices within the BJP against Modis bid for prime ministerial candidature on the ground of his popularity among the party cadres across the country. Bharti,however,is not part of the BJPs apex decision-making Parliamentary Board that will take a call on the prime ministerial candidature issue.