'Advaniji did not praise Chouhan to put down Modi'

With senior BJP leader LK Advanirsquos comments on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi sparking a controversy party president Rajnath Singh yesterday claimed there had been a misinterpretation His blessings LK Advani had said that while Modirsquos Gujarat was already developed Chouhanrsquos Madhya Pradesh was backward when they assumed their charges as the chief ministers He went on to compare Chouhan to Vajpayee File pic The BJP sought to play down the controversy created by Advani terming achievements of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan better than those of Narendra Modi Blame it on media ldquoAdvanirsquos statement was misinterpretedrdquo Singh said when asked about the comparison Advani made between Chouhan and Modi at a party conclave in Gwalior on Saturday Singh said ldquoI have said already that if there is a popular leader in the country it is Narendra Modirdquo He did not agree that Advani pitted Chouhan against Modi as a prime ministerial candidate He also denied reports of a ldquocold warrdquo in the BJP over the choice of the prime ministerial candidate ldquoWhatever decision I have to take I will take after calling a meeting of the central parliamentary boardrdquo he said In Delhi party general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy said there was ldquocomplete misrepresentationrdquo of Advanirsquos remarksHe said Advani had praised all BJP chief ministers in his speech at Gwalior ldquoLike a statesman he carried a positive word for every chief ministerrdquo Rudy said He added that it was natural to shower praise on a leader of the state where an event is being held to boost the morale of party workers Irsquom not in race Even Chouhan tried to quell the controversy yesterday ldquoI want to say with all humility that Advani first praised Narendra Modi for his excellent work He then praised Raman Singh Chhattisgarh Chief Minister So he did not praise any individualrdquo he said He also refuted suggestions that Advani appears to be backing him for the countryrsquos top job against Modi ldquoNarendra Modi is my senior an elder brother Raman Singh is also senior to me Leave alone being number one or number two I am not even at number threerdquo Chouhan said The controversy Comparing Chouhanrsquos development model with that of Modi Advani had said that the Madhya Pradesh chief minister deserved more credit He argued that Chouhan the chief minister of a ldquoBimarurdquo state had brought about considerable progress during his tenure while Modi only improved an already economically welloff Gujarat ldquoBimarurdquo mdash means sickly in Hindi mdash has been an acronym for Bihar Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh the four north Indian states that are viewed as laggards in terms of economic development Advani was reported to have said that while Modirsquos Gujarat was already developed Chouhanrsquos Madhya Pradesh was backward when they assumed their charges as the chief ministers and went on to compare Chouhan to former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee His statement triggered a debate in the BJP and was seen as an attempt to scuttle Modirsquos chances of becoming the prime ministerial candidate of the party u00a0