Lauding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his three-day fast for promoting communal harmony, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday said he would support Modi’s bid for becoming Prime Minister.
Taking to reporters here, Thackeray said: “I will support Narendra Modi for becoming Prime Minister. This country needs good governance and a good leader.”
“The fast of Narendra Modi is entirely different from the reasons being quoted by other people. Public of the country have to deicide whom to elect as their Prime Minster,” he added.
Asked about the ‘Sadbhavana Mission’, Thackeray said: “Sadbhavana is there in everyone’s mind, but it also depends on your counterpart’s nature.”
“Few relations are beyond politics and, if we see them in that regard, then it would be great,” he added.
Modi began a "harmony fast" on Saturday to soften his image as a hardliner blamed for religious riots that claimed thousands of lives.
The fast is seen as a bid by Modi and the BJP to launch him as a national leader.
Seizing the moment after the Supreme Court referred to a lower court a case in which Modi was accused of complicity in the 2002 violence, the BJP and Modi are using the fast to depict him as a conciliator with a strong economy record.
Modi, who celebrated his 62st birthday on Saturday, said 11 per cent annual growth showed Gujarat had recovered from the riots that killed more than 1,000 people and was now peaceful.
After leading Gujarat for the past decade, there has been speculation Modi would seek a greater role in national politics as the contender for the Prime Minister's post in the next general elections.
