New candidates for the 2014 PM race

Another round of sparring began two senior leaders of BJP and Congress with each calling the other as better choice of Prime Minister than Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. It seemed like a mutual admiration but of course was not.

Coming out strongly against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday added fuel to a new debate saying why BJP cannot field a ‘better leader’ like Sushma Swaraj as its PM candidate. Singh had termed Modi as ‘megalomaniac psychopath liar.’

The drama began with Digvijay Singh’s tweets on Sunday morning slamming Modi, who was quoted in a newspaper interview saying that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not present at the funeral of his Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in 1950. The Congress blames the BJP of attempting to appropriate the inheritance of Sardar Patel, acknowledged as India’s iron man.

Singh referred to the biography of another Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, which had a description of Nehru being present at Sardar Patel’s funeral in Mumbai, to ‘expose’ Mr Modi’s sayings. The Congress leader tweeted – “Coluldn’t BJP find a better leader? What’s wrong with Sushma (Swaraj)?”

Downplaying Singh’s comments, Swaraj tweeted with an angry reply, “Even I think Digvijay Singhji is a better candidate than Rahul Gandhi.”

Well let me remind you, this is not the first time that Singh has entitled Swaraj to be named BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Last year, Singh had made a statement that it was Swaraj’s right to be perceived as a contender for the Prime Minister’s post.

Singh said, “In British Parliament, the leader of opposition is considered the shadow prime minister. If we go by that system, Sushma should be the shadow PM here also. But I was surprised when Sushma declared someone else as the contender for PM…It is your right Sushmaji.”

Calling off Singh’s comments, Swaraj had said that he had an old habit of making arguments and was doing just that in the situation.

Singh said in a tweet “Modi must issue a public apology! Feku at his best.” It also had a link to the autobiography of Desai.

I would like to remind you that in 2004, Swaraj had famously said she would tonsure her head if Sonia Gandhi became the prime minister and last month she had confessed at a book release function in Delhi that she opposed Gandhi’s PM candidature in 2004 as it hurt her ‘sensibilities’ that a foreigner would lead the country.

Now what if Rahul Gandhi becomes to PM in 2014, will she again threaten to shave her head.

Rahul Gandhi is being seen as the Congress party’s choice for the top job, However, there has been no official announcement.