The BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, have tried to play down a senior RSS leader's accusation that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is stoking the demand for the removal of Nitin Gadkari as party president. Mr Modi was blamed for trying to engineer Mr Gadkari's exit in a blog over the weekend by MG Vaidya, triggering a damage control exercise with the Gujarat elections only a month away.