New Delhi: Narendra Modi has been inducted into the BJP's parliamentary board, the 11-member group of top leaders that is the party's highest decision-making body, in a first sign that the Gujarat Chief Minister could be the party's showstopper in the Lok Sabha elections 2013.
Mr Modi will be the only Chief Minister in the select group and his many supporters in the party say this signals an end to the debate - who after Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. But the party strategically continues to stop short of naming him as the man who will lead it in the next elections.
In another sign of his growing clout, Mr Modi has also managed the key appointment of general secretary for his close aide Amit Shah in what is the most contentious inclusion in Rajnath Singh's new team. The former Gujarat Home Minister is out on bail in the Sohrabbuddin fake encounter case.
Early today morning, BJP president Rajnath Singh met party patriarch LK Advani, reportedly to iron out last-minute differences over the contours of the team that will design the party's campaign for the next elections. Mr Advani had reportedly wanted the inclusion of another successful BJP CM, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh, in the parliamentary board.
The party chief has also attempted a fine balance between the interests of the BJP and those of its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, which has mandated the rekindling of a Hindutva agenda in the 2014 elections.
So leaders like Varun Gandhi and Uma Bharti have been given important assignments. The 32-year-old Varun Gandhi - who is Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's first cousin and 10 years his junior - is now one of the BJP's 10 general secretaries. He was recently exonerated of charges of making hate speeches in the last Lok Sabha elections. (
Meet the new team)
Uma Bharti, a former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minster and a monk, has been made a vice-president. For Ms Bharti, this is a political resurrection. She was expelled from the party for reasons of discipline and the comeback has been grueling. Her detractors in the party continue to voice apprehension about her mercurial style of functioning.
Vinay Katiyar, Bajrang Dal leader and one of the prominent faces of the Ayodhya Ram temple movement, has been included in the party's election panel.
Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha was in the running for a key party role, but his chances were thwarted by his public tirade earlier this year as he attempted to scuttle the re-appointment of former party president Nitin Gadkari.
Party watchers say despite Rajnath Singh's best efforts at keeping everyone happy, the mixed bag of appointments made today is likely to spell turbulence within the party in the coming days.