Modi not yet resigning as Gujarat CM or BJP's campaign panel chief

Party's Parliamentary board likely to be supplanted by a new core committee

With Narendra Modi on Friday being named the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections, many were left wondering if he would resign from the two important positions he currently holds — as Gujarat chief minister and chief of the party’s campaign panel. From what party sources told Business Standard, it emerges he is relinquishing neither just yet.

Instead, a smaller group in the party will be constituted to run the day-to-day affairs related to the elections.

Modi had already delegated part of his responsibility in Gujarat to his colleagues a few months ago — giving many the rank of Cabinet ministers so that they could independently take decisions. But he still holds a majority of state portfolios, including the crucial home ministry.

In the structure of the central BJP, the Parliamentary board is the highest decision-making body. While this will continue to be the highest forum, it is likely to be supplanted by the constitution of a core committee. Rajnath Singh, when he was appointed president of the party, had dissolved the core committee set up by his predecessor Nitin Gadkari.

This will be a smaller body of five or seven people to carry out Modi’s directions. “You will see the emergence of a parallel party structure,” said a BJP source.

Some evidence of this is already visible. The ‘Nai Soch, nai Ummeed’ slogan and posters — first spotted before Modi’s public meeting in Hyderabad but have now appeared across India — were are a product of Modi’s own team and have nothing to do with either the central party or state units.

BJP leaders, not used to such an in-your-face campaign, are still struggling to come to terms with it.

At the meeting of the Parliamentary board on Friday, the interjections of the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, that the board should take L K Advani’s concerns on board were rejected by other members — Arun Jaitley, Thavar Chand Gehlot and Venkaiah Naidu. At Modi’s meeting with Advani (which lasted 15 minutes), sources say, it was Advani who tried to explain that he had merely wanted a postponement of the announcement because it would have hurt BJP’s prospects in Assembly elections in some states. Modi is learnt to have chatted as if nothing had happened and entirely ignored Advani’s explanation.

For Modi to bypass the party in Gujarat and run his campaign himself in a state was one thing. But Delhi is a seething cauldron of power centres. His supporters say they are confident he will neutralise these effectively. But, in the process, many might get bloody noses. The party is gearing up for a new regime.

The Advani camp is counselling its leader to be patient. A rally organised by party general secretary Varun Gandhi that was to be addressed by Advani had to be cancelled because the state government did not give permission for it. On Sunday, Modi holds a rally in Rewari, Haryana, to address Army veterans. His supporters say the victory of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the Delhi University Students Union elections is a shot in the arm for him.

L K Advani had resolved to write a blog this morning but was dissuaded from doing so. He has resolved not to retire hurt. The next move would be his.

Party seniors try to placate Advani

Senior BJP leaders on Saturday tried to reach out to party patriarch L K Advani, who is said to be uncomfortable with the naming of Narendra Modi as the party’s PM candidate for the coming general elections. Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, Balbir Punj and Ravi Shankar Prasad met Advani at his home. Asked if Advani was unhappy with Modi’s elevation, Swaraj said: “Nobody is upset.” She added Advani’s letter to Rajnath Singh was not discussed during the meeting. Late in the evening, Singh downplayed his differences with Advani, saying: “Advani is not isolated in BJP. He never said Modi should not be made the party’s PM candidate. He continues to be our leader, guardian and mentor.”

Cong, BJP exchange blows over Modi

The Congress and BJP are back to sparring with each other: Now over Narendra Modi. Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Saturday lashed out at the saffron brigade on Twitter, saying BJP, in naming Modi as its PM candidate, had succumbed to threats from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Within hours, the BJP camp reacted, with party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi saying on record: “The Congress reaction clearly shows its mental state. It is insecure.”