NEW DELHI : The BJP national executive meeting, which will take place in Goa on June 8-9, will decide strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections in different states and the next general elections though the focus will be on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and possible announcement of head of the party’s election campaign committee.
However, officially the BJP said decision on the party’s prime ministerial candidate for 2014 polls and head of the election campaign committee will not be taken at the two-day conclave in the Goan capital of Panaji.
A section of BJP leaders want that Mr Modi be appointed as head of the election campaign committee and also he be projected as the face of the party for the next general elections.
The NDA partner JD(U) has clearly expressed its reservation on Mr Modi’s name as the prime ministerial candidate of the Opposition alliance.
A section of the BJP also wants that the decision on the prime ministerial candidate be taken at the earliest.
The BJP national office-bearers will meet tomorrow to decide agenda for the meeting which will be attended by about 300 delegates, including BJP president Rajnath Singh, senior party leaders L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Mr Modi, party’s other chief ministers, MPs and MLAs and other senior leaders.
This will be the first national meeting of the BJP chief’s new team.
The party will discuss the strategy against the Congress-led UPA government on different issues including corruption and price rise. However, all eyes of media will be on Mr Modi’s projection at the national level.
The CM’s growing influence in the party was witnessed when he was inducted into the BJP Parliamentary Board, the highest decision-making body of the party. His confidant Amit Shah was recently named the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.
The intra-party debate over the prime ministerial candidate was renewed when Mr Advani, at a party conclave in Gwalior recently, had praised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and rated him higher than the Gujarat Chief Minister.
Mr Advani also compared Mr Chouhan with former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee.
The BJP president clarified that Mr Advani’s comments had been ‘misinterpreted’ after the media reports said Mr Advani’s speech was against the Gujarat Chief Minister.
BJP sources said some major decisions may be taken at the national executive.
(AGENCIES)
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