Modi in Delhi; meets Advani, Vajpayee

This will be the first interaction between Advani and Modi after he was elevated as BJP campaign head

Narendra Modi

On his first visit to the national capital after being anointed chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election campaign committee, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met party veteran L K Advani here.

Describing the meeting between the the party veteran and the Gujarat chief minister as “good”, party leaders said the two leaders discussed the recent split in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with the Janata Dal (United) moving out.

BJP leaders said that Modi is of the opinion that if the BJP can perform well in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and reaches within the striking distance to form government at the Centre, many political parties would come forward to become alliance partners.

“Modi has come to Delhi to express his gratitude over his recent appointment as Chairman of the BJP Campaign Committee at Goa. He has expressed his gratitude and said he is trying to fulfill the responsibility given to him,” said Murli Manohar Joshi, after his meeting with Modi. The Gujarat chief minister also met former prime minister and iconic BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Senior leaders also said that there was no discussion on Modi’s elevation as the campaign committee chairman since the decision had been taken by the national executive and Advani was “not annoyed” with Modi’s elevation. The national executive meeting in Goa was the first time in BJP’s history which was not attended by Advani.

While JD(U) has decided to move out of NDA because of Modi’s elevation, BJP leaders believe there will be no further disturbances within the NDA as both the alliance partners, Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), do not object to Modi’s growing clout in the affairs of the party. A day after Modi was announced as the chairman of the election campaign committee, Advani had resigned from all the posts of the party. The Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat had to intervene, who spoke to Advani, to solve the crisis.

After the truce, Advani’s resignation was rejected by the parliamentary board of the party.