New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader LK Advani has agreed that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi can head an important election committee to tackle the national elections-with a caveat. He wants another committee to be created to steer the BJP into the state elections due in places like Delhi within the next few months, he wants former party chief Nitin Gadkari to lead that group, and he wants the two election committees to be announced simultaneously, possibly at a meeting in Goa this weekend of the BJP's top leadership.
Mr Advani's suggestion offers a compromise- even if a baffling one- to his party, which has been contending with his determined opposition to prevent Mr Modi from being endorsed with a massive national-level post within the BJP, which could segue into his being named the party's presumptive prime minister.
Mr Modi's stature within the BJP has been acknowledged by many of his colleagues - yesterday, Arun Jaitley told NDTV that the chief minister's popularity is "self-evident" and that he has "a special place in the BJP's campaign." The BJP's ideological mentor- the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS- has been pushing for Mr Modi's VVIP status to be endorsed urgently, partly to beach the wave of dissent against him by other senior leaders reportedly topped by Mr Advani, an allegation described as "unfair" by Mr Jaitley to NDTV.
Sources say that Mr Advani has offered his solution about two parallel election committees to BJP president Rajnath Singh. However, he appears to have discounted the fact that his preferred choice for the leader of one of those committees- Mr Gadkari - has rejected Mr Advani's backing, making it clear that he wants no part in the war between the pro and anti Modi camps.