As Narendra Modi shines, there’s a new star on BJP horizon

The BJP top brass may flaunt governance in party-ruled states to project itself as an alternative to the Congress, but none of its chief ministers was allowed to speak at the open session of the party's national council meeting on Friday.

What was more interesting was the way Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan was projected, almost as a foil to the rising profile of Gujarat's Narendra Modi.

BJP president Nitin Gadkari felicitated Chouhan for achievements in the agriculture sector. It was only after he was nudged by others that he acknowledged the achievements of Himachal CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, who was present, and the initiatives in the solar power sector by Modi, who wasn't. No praise came the way of Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh, who was also present.

Later in the evening, Modi and Chouhan were the only CMs present at a rally in Faridabad, where L K Advani hailed both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh as role models.

"Someone told me Modi has become bigger than the party. I said in a family, if the grandson earns a big name, then the elders always feel good," Advani said, indicating that he held Chouhan in the same league.

Modi, however, stole the show with his attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, wondering whether FDI in multi-brand retail had been prompted by the coming US elections and Sonia's recent visit to America.

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