Next LS polls to be Modi's prime focus: Guj BJP leader

Sources in the party say Modi will now be travelling to different states in the country to popularise his Gujarat model of development

With his induction in BJP's Parliamentary Board, the party's highest decision-making body, Narendra Modi's prime focus will be on the next Lok Sabha polls, a state BJP leader close to the Gujarat Chief Minister said.

"Now, with the official announcement of his induction in national Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee of the party, the entire focus of Modiji will be on the next general elections," the state BJP leader close to Modi said.

State party leaders feel that Modi's hat trick in Gujarat Assembly elections and his elevation to the party's key central bodies will now make him openly pursue his national ambition.

In the new team announced by BJP yesterday, Modi has been able to get a place for his close confidants like Amit Shah, charge sheeted in two alleged fake encounter cases, and Smriti Irani. "The entire team of party president Rajnath Singh has been created with the focus on 2014 elections," the BJP leader added.

BJP Spokesman Prakash Javadekar had yesterday said that Modi has been included in the party's parliamentary board because of his increasing popularity. "Narendra Modi is the senior-most Chief Minister of BJP and has achieved top success in his state. He is the most popular leader in BJP. He has become an icon of non-corrupt good governments," Javadekar had said. Before the announcement of the team in New Delhi, Modi had separate meetings here with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday last and with L K Advani on Saturday.

Sources in the party said Modi will now be travelling to different states in the country to popularise his Gujarat model of development in the run up to the general elections.

He is scheduled to address captains of industry in Kolkata on April 9.

The state party unit has also decided to organise a mammoth function here on April 6, which is the 33rd foundation day of the BJP, where Rajnath Singh will be felicitated.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat Congress unit has been criticising the Chief Minister for ignoring the issues faced by the state - like water scarcity. "People of as many as 160 villages in Gujarat are facing shortage of drinking water. The Chief Minister is dreaming to become Prime Minister and is not paying attention to such issues," state Congress unit president Arjun Modhwadia had recently said in Rajkot.