New Delhi: Top leaders of the BJP and more than 13 Sangh affiliated organisations are participating in a crucial two-day coordination meet that will focus on the larger game plan of the 2014 elections. Narendra Modi is the only Chief Minister invited.
A day before the meet, Mr Modi and BJP president Rajnath Singh met top leaders of its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to discuss the agenda for the meet as well as possible resistance to Mr Modi's elevation to the party's Prime Ministerial candidate from top BJP leaders.
Senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj reportedly want the announcement naming Mr Modi delayed till after Assembly elections are held in five states this November.
But the RSS reportedly favours making the announcement before those elections are notified - expected by September 22, and is girding for a revolt from the anti-Modi group in the BJP.
The RSS, which sits in on important decision-making in the party, has thrown its weight behind Mr Modi. On Saturday, the RSS said that it has conveyed "its decision" to the BJP, when asked who it would like projected as presumptive PM in 2014.
"The Sangh has made its role clear. The party has to decide whose name to announce and when to do it. We have given our opinion to the BJP. They have to decide," senior RSS leader Manmohan Vaidya said after the organisation's head Mohan Bhagwat concluded an extended exercise to build consensus in the BJP over Mr Modi.
The BJP president has repeatedly said that the party's parliamentary board, a group of top 12 leaders, will decide who the BJP's prime ministerial candidate will be. Mr Singh is expected to call a meeting of the board soon to take a final decision.
Sources say Mr Modi could officially be named the BJP's PM candidate before September 19, since it marks the beginning of shraadh, a 15-day period just before the Navarati festival that is considered inauspicious for beginning anything important. The party, say sources, would like to make the crucial announcement before that.
A day before the meet, Mr Modi and BJP president Rajnath Singh met top leaders of its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to discuss the agenda for the meet as well as possible resistance to Mr Modi's elevation to the party's Prime Ministerial candidate from top BJP leaders.
Senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Sushma Swaraj reportedly want the announcement naming Mr Modi delayed till after Assembly elections are held in five states this November.
The RSS, which sits in on important decision-making in the party, has thrown its weight behind Mr Modi. On Saturday, the RSS said that it has conveyed "its decision" to the BJP, when asked who it would like projected as presumptive PM in 2014.
Advertisement
The BJP president has repeatedly said that the party's parliamentary board, a group of top 12 leaders, will decide who the BJP's prime ministerial candidate will be. Mr Singh is expected to call a meeting of the board soon to take a final decision.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
"Secular Civil Code Need Of Times": PM Modi In Independence Day Speech "Strictest Punishment For Crimes Against Women": PM Amid Kolkata Protests "Natural Disasters Increasing Concerns": PM Modi On Independence Day 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Vandalism At Kolkata Hospital Where Doctor Was Raped, Tear Gas Fired Taylor Swift To Return To Stage For Eras Tour After Vienna Attack Plot "140 Crore Indians Worried About Safety Of Hindus In Bangladesh": PM Modi G20 Nations Couldn't Do, India Did, Met Paris Accord Target Before Time: PM Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.