New Delhi:
At meeting of the BJP's parliamentary board - a group of 12 top leaders who make all the crucial decisions in the party - Narendra Modi and party veteran LK Advani are seated beside each other.
Mr Advani had resigned recently to protest against the Gujarat chief minister's elevation as the party's campaign committee chief. Today's board meeting is the first since Mr Modi's promotion and the internal crisis that it provoked.
Chaired by party president Rajnath Singh, it is expected to discuss election strategy and there is speculation that he could lay out the blueprint for the party's 2014 general elections campaign.
The board is expected to give broad approval to Mr Modi's campaign strategy so that he can begin work on it. The board's sanction will mean that Mr Modi will not have to come back to it for a sign-off every time he launches a new campaign initiative.
After the parliamentary board meeting, Mr Modi will attend a meeting of party general secretaries where he will review their inputs for the campaign blueprint. At the last such meeting Mr Modi had made clear that he would head campaign strategy not just for the general elections, but also Assembly elections in several states to be held by the end of the year.
Mr Advani had made a brief attempt before Mr Modi's elevation to push for separate committees with different heads for the national and state elections. He had suggested that former party president Nitin Gadkari could head one of these, but the latter had declined. Mr Gadkari, says sources, could be handed charge of Delhi, one of the states that vote in a few months.
When Mr Modi's appointment as head of the campaign committee was announced at a party meet in Goa last month, Mr Advani had resigned from all party positions, including the parliamentary board, in protest.
The parliamentary board had rejected his resignation; the Rashtriya Sayamsevak Sangh or RSS intervened and Mr Advani withdrew his resignation. The RSS, which is the ideological parent of the BJP, had reportedly insisted on Mr Modi's appointment and has also mandated that he must not face hurdles as he prepares strategy for the election campaign.
Mr Advani had resigned recently to protest against the Gujarat chief minister's elevation as the party's campaign committee chief. Today's board meeting is the first since Mr Modi's promotion and the internal crisis that it provoked.
Chaired by party president Rajnath Singh, it is expected to discuss election strategy and there is speculation that he could lay out the blueprint for the party's 2014 general elections campaign.
The board is expected to give broad approval to Mr Modi's campaign strategy so that he can begin work on it. The board's sanction will mean that Mr Modi will not have to come back to it for a sign-off every time he launches a new campaign initiative.
After the parliamentary board meeting, Mr Modi will attend a meeting of party general secretaries where he will review their inputs for the campaign blueprint. At the last such meeting Mr Modi had made clear that he would head campaign strategy not just for the general elections, but also Assembly elections in several states to be held by the end of the year.
Mr Advani had made a brief attempt before Mr Modi's elevation to push for separate committees with different heads for the national and state elections. He had suggested that former party president Nitin Gadkari could head one of these, but the latter had declined. Mr Gadkari, says sources, could be handed charge of Delhi, one of the states that vote in a few months.
When Mr Modi's appointment as head of the campaign committee was announced at a party meet in Goa last month, Mr Advani had resigned from all party positions, including the parliamentary board, in protest.
The parliamentary board had rejected his resignation; the Rashtriya Sayamsevak Sangh or RSS intervened and Mr Advani withdrew his resignation. The RSS, which is the ideological parent of the BJP, had reportedly insisted on Mr Modi's appointment and has also mandated that he must not face hurdles as he prepares strategy for the election campaign.
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