Panaji:
Sunday is expected to be
Narendra Modi day at the BJP's Goa conclave. The Gujarat Chief Minister will address the 300 party leaders attending the national executive meet and the RSS has reportedly sent a word that a promotion for him must be announced before the party wraps up today.
Sources said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, the BJP's ideological parent, has sent a word to party chief Rajnath Singh that there must be no delay in giving Mr Modi charge of the party's election strategy committee, the absence of party stalwart LK Advani notwithstanding. (
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Whether Mr Modi will be designated "chairman" or "convenor" now remains to be seen.
Mr Rajnath Singh has reportedly agonised till this morning over whether to make a Modi announcement at all in the absence of Mr Advani, a move that could etch permanent cracks in the party perilously close to the general elections. Mr Advani leads a club of heavyweights who refused to attend the two-day meet to protest against a promotion for Mr Modi.
Mr Advani has reportedly suggested that Mr Modi be appointed the convenor and not the chairman of the election committee, which will mean that he would not preside over election meetings; Rajnath Singh would.
That way, his critics argue, Mr Modi will get a special role without being handed unbridled power.
A promotion today would be seen by many as a stepping stone for Mr Modi on the way to being declared the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. But there is opposition to that not just within, but also from crucial ally, the Janata Dal United, that says Mr Modi is not acceptable as the man to lead their national alliance, the NDA.
In 2002, during Mr Modi's first term in office, communal riots killed hundreds of Muslims. His critics say he did not do enough to protect them.