Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a scathing attack on the Gandhi-Nehru family alleging that a “conspiracy” has been hatched to promote the family posing a danger to the future of the country.

“Ek parivar ke ateet ko age badane ke liye jo shadayantra chal raha hai usse Hindustan ke bhavishya ko khatra hai (Conspiracy to promote one family’s past is posing danger for the future of the country),” Modi said without directly naming the Gandhi-Nehru family but the indication was obvious.

Noting that members of the family have ruled the country for as many as 37 years, he said that if the past five years were also taken into account, then it would be a 42-year rule.

With Manmohan Singh being an “invisible” Prime Minister, it was “power without accountability” for the family in the last five years, he alleged.

Addressing the party’s national council meeting, the BJP’s star campaigner gave a new spin to the victory of Barack Obama in the US Presidential elections claiming that it was the result of the American citizens being fed up with the stranglehold of a few families in politics.

“It was senior Bush for two terms followed by two terms of Bill Clinton and then two terms of junior Bush and then there was the possibility of another Clinton. The people there felt if it will be only two families that will run the country”, Modi contended.

Modi, who was participating in the discussion on the political resolution, said, in India “only one family has ruined everything”.

Making a strong pitch for L K Advani as the next Prime Minister, he said that what the country was needing was a “strong” leader like the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate and “not like Manmohan Singh whose presence is not felt” despite he occupying the top post.

Narendra Modi will be in charge of western India for BJP in Loksabha election

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be in charge of western India for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming Lok Sabha election while general secretary Arun Jaitley will oversee Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state. The BJP on Sunday announced the names of party leaders to take charge of campaigning and election strategy in different states.

Modi, who is increasingly seen as a Prime Minister hopeful, will preside over Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the party said in a statement.

Jatiley, considered a master strategist, has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for 80 Lok Sabha seats, as well as Bihar, Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh.

The others are: M. Venkaiah Naidu (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshdweep), Sushma Swaraj (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand), Ananth Kumar (Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka), Shanta Kumar and Bhagat Singh Koshyari (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana), V. Satish (Orissa), Soudan Singh (Rajasthan), as well as S.S. Ahluwalia, Harendra Pratap and Chandrasekhar (Assam, northeast and Sikkim).

Ahluwalia will also be in charge of West Bengal, the BJP said.

Advani Praises Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is proud of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, party leader LK Advani said Sunday. “A journalist once asked me if Narendra Modi was becoming larger than the party. I replied that if a family member is becoming more popular than the head of the family, then it is a proud moment for the entire family,” the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate told the National Council meeting here.

he Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is proud of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, party leader LK Advani said Sunday. “A journalist once asked me if Narendra Modi was becoming larger than the party. I replied that if a family member is becoming more popular than the head of the family, then it is a proud moment for the entire family,” the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate told the National Council meeting here.

“The same was once said about (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee,” Advani said. Continuing his praise of Modi, he said: “People called Narendra Modi a merchant of death and dared him to win the (assembly) elections in Gujarat (in 2007). But he won.”

Advani was referring to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s description of Modi as “maut ke saudagar” – for his government’s alleged inaction during the 2002 communal violence.

Advani also praised other BJP chief ministers including Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh and Chhattisgarh’s Raman Singh. Both won assembly elections in November-December. “There are few leaders like Shivraj Singh. He was solely responsible for the party’s victory,” Advani said.