Gujarat elections will decide Modi's fate as PM candidate: Bihar BJP

New Delhi: The outcome of the Gujarat elections could seal Chief Minister Narendra Modi's fate in the race to become the NDA's prime ministerial candidate, the BJP's Bihar unit chief CP Thakur said on Monday. Thakur said that Modi could be a frontrunner if he got a thumping majority in the December Assembly elections.

BJP President Nitin Gadkari had earlier said the prime ministerial candidate's name will be decided only after the 2014 General Elections. The BJP's partner in Bihar, Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) has been opposed to Modi's candidature.

Modi did raise hackles during a rally in Himachal Pradesh on Monday where he took potshots at the PM, newly-appointed Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD) Shashi Tharoor and his wife Sunanda Pushkar. While calling the PM, 'maun' Mohan Singh, in an indirect reference to his alleged silence over price rise and inflation, Modi described Sunanda as the 'Rs 50 crore girlfriend'.

The Bihar BJP chief CP Thakur said that Gujarat CM Narendra Modi could be a frontrunner if he got a thumping majority in the December elections.

"There was a Congress leader who was a minister in Parliament. He was accused of amassing wealth from cricket. He had said in Parliament that he is not connected to the Rs 50 crore that was in his lady's name," said Modi. "Have you ever heard of Rs 50 crore girlfriend?" he asked.

Continuing his attack on the Congress, Modi said, "Maun Mohan Singh broke his silence only in Himachal Pradesh yesterday. He should have spoken on price rise and said that he failed at controlling them and that he will try to bring them down." The BJP leader further said that he would have been happy if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had "thought about the poor."

Hitting out at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the BJP leader said "she does not know how to run kitchen". "If she knew, she would not have allowed capping of LPG cylinders. Indian woman, who runs a kitchen, is suffering," said Modi.

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