New Delhi: Narendra Modi and LK Advani sat beside each other at a meeting of the BJP's parliamentary board - a group of 12 top leaders who make all the crucial decisions in the party. This was the first big strategy meeting that the two leaders attended since the Gujarat Chief Minister's elevation as the party's campaign committee chief last month.
Mr Advani had handed his resignation from party posts in protest against that promotion for Mr Modi and in a very public sulk, had refused to attend a meeting in Goa where the appointment was announced. At today's meeting, the party leaders discussed the agenda outlined at the Goa meet.
They were also expected to discuss the current political situation, the fallout of Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United ending a long partnership with the BJP and importantly, endorse Mr Modi's appointment as the head of the campaign committee.
The BJP's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, which had insisted that Mr Modi's promotion be announced in Goa, and which had also intervened to get Mr Advani to call off his rebellion, has reportedly mandated that there must be no more dissonance among top BJP leaders as they prepare crucial strategy for elections.
After the parliamentary board meeting today, Mr Modi will attend a meeting of party general secretaries where he will review their inputs for the blueprint of his election campaign plan. At the last such meeting Mr Modi had made it clear that he would head campaign strategy not just for the general elections, but also Assembly elections in several states to be held by the end of the year.
Mr Advani had made a brief attempt before Mr Modi's elevation to push for separate committees with different heads for the national and state elections. He had suggested that former party president Nitin Gadkari could head one of these, but the latter had declined. Mr Gadkari, say sources, could be handed charge of Delhi, one of the states going to vote in a few months.