NEW DELHI — Support for India's main opposition party's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi is growing with each passing day as hordes of regional leaders and small parties are rallying behind him. In a shot in the arm of the opposition Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), two senior leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad, a regional outfit of a northeastern state of Assam, joined the party. In another development, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) announced that the outfit will extend support to the BJP in West Bengal. On Sunday the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) publicly threw its support ahead of next month's general elections. The firebrand head of the far-right party, Raj Thackeray, said he would back the BJP. Meanwhile, in a major embarrassment for the Congress party, its candidate from Bhind constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Bhagirath Prasad joined BJP on Sunday, a day after his name was officially declared. In Uttar Pradesh, a minister in the state government was sacked as his son and a sitting MP joined the BJP. — Agencies
