Arvind Kejriwal is no Narendra Modi, says dismissive BJP

Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader and the party's Odisha in-charge Chandan Mitra said it would be inappropriate to state that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was greater than Narendra Modi, though the Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader registered a great achievement within a short span of time.

"AAP happens to be a regional party with virtually no presence outside Delhi, while Modi is undoubtedly a national icon who has created a wave across the country," Mitra said.

Mitra's comments come even as AAP said that it planned to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, and announced a mass membership drive from 10 January.

He also however, dismissed the possibility of a 'third front' victory.

Dubbing hopes of forming a Third Front ahead of the elections an "illusion", BJP today said the party would dethrone the "scam tainted" Congress government at the Centre and the BJD in Odisha.

"Hopes for formation of a Third Front is an illusion. It can never happen. Similar experiments in the past have failed miserably,"

PTI

"Even if the Third Front is formed, nobody knows who will be its leader", the BJP MP added.

"While the AIADMK wants its leader to be Prime Minister, Trinamool Congress is keen to see Mamata Banerjee as PM and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik (is) daydreaming for the top post -- these will never materialise," he said.

Foreseeing infighting among the forces seeking to form a new front, Mitra said the country had seen the outcome of governments headed by HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral.

Claiming that the 'Modi wave' was building up all over the county, Mitra said this was the best time to dislodge the "rampantly corrupt and inefficient government of Naveen Patnaik in Odisha and Manmohan Singh's scam tainted regime in Delhi."

BJP under Modi's leadership will contest the polls on two planks of anti corruption and development, Mitra said.

"It is the party's conviction that India's golden age along with that of Odisha will dawn after the 2014 elections, when BJP will come to power both at the Centre and the state," he said.

PTI