By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-07 02:28:00 | Updated at 2024-10-07 06:31:58
4 hours ago
As India enters crucial state elections, speculation over a possible successor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged after a top government minister disclosed that he had rejected advances from opposition parties to challenge Modi’s leadership, stirring debate on the future of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, who oversees India’s ambitious highway development efforts, told local media late last month that he had declined opposition leaders’ offers to support him for the position of prime minister both before and after the April-June national elections.
“I asked them, ‘Why do you want me to be the PM, and why should I not be with the PM [Modi]?’ So, becoming prime minister is not my ambition,” Gadkari said, without revealing who the offer came from.
His remarks come ahead of four crucial state elections, in which the ruling BJP faces uphill battles following the loss of its outright majority in the last national elections.
Polls in Jammu and Kashmir have concluded, with Haryana’s final voting phase set for Saturday. Television stations will broadcast exit poll results and forecasts for both states on the same day. Two additional states, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, will hold elections before the end of the year.
Sandeep Shastri – director of academics at Nitte Education and national coordinator of the Lok Niti Network, which studies elections – said that states have become the centre of Indian politics. “State elections will play a major role in shaping national politics,” he said.
