BJP moves towards Modi announcement, Advani completely sidelined?

In a clear move towards naming Narendra Modi as the campaign committee chief, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain spoke at noon during the party conclave in Panaji, saying that the party would not fail its cadres. BJP also went on the offensive against the Congress, saying that differences between the PMO and Sonia Gandhi did not allow for any consensus in the government, which was failing the country. “The Congress is the vish (poison) and the BJP will be like a lotus spreading amrut (antidote),” Hussain said. Whil Hussain paid lip-service to LK Advani, it seems clear that the conclave will go ahead with the announcement regardless of the senior leader’s presence. It is one of the last steps before the party completely bypasses all of Advani’s red flags in the drive to announce Modi’s new roles. [caption id=“attachment_855017” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  BJP leader Advani. File image[/caption] On Sunday morning, TV channel Times Now reported that that Rajnath Singh had vetoed a suggestion by veteran leader LK Advani asking for two committees, instead of making Narendra Modi poll campaign chief. The channel said that this course of action had been taken after several attempts to try and convince Advani had failed. Before the BJP conclave began, LK Advani had given his approval to the pending proposal regarding Narendra Modi to Rajnath Singh. But Advani, who headed a group of leaders who opposed Modi, also introduced a condition which created a fresh controversy. It was reported by several media outlets that Advani did not want all the power in the BJP to be concentrated in one hand, and suggested the BJP’s election campaign should be guided by two committees. The first would be the campaign committee which would devote itself to the 2014 general election campaign, which would be led by Modi. The second one would be an “election management committee” which would spearhead the party’s electoral battle in the five states going to assembly polls in November this year. It seemed that while Advani had taken note of the increasingly urgent desire from the party’s rank and file for Modi to be made the Prime Ministerial face of the party, he was uncomfortable with handing over excessive power to Modi. On Saturday, which was the second day of the conclave, was missed by Advani as well. This gave the theories of a rift within the party further credence. Sources told TV channel CNN IBN that the senior BJP leader was suffering from a stomach ailment. However, the BJP denied these reports, saying that his absence wouldn’t affect the meet. “What is not important is whether Advaniji is there or not but what message we take to people from this meet,” said BJP spokesperson Shaina NC. CNN IBN yesterday quoted unnamed BJP sources as saying that Advani’s supporters had asserted that no campaign panel announcement could be made without his presence. It seems therefore that Advani’s absence was an attempt to put a spanner in the party’s works, since it was assumed that no major decision could be made without him being present. It seemed for some time that no announcement would come out of the meet on Sunday after the party chief was advised to name the poll panel chief only in the presence of Advani. Meanwhile, a group of people apparently unaffiliated with the BJP gathered outside Advani’s home to protest his absence from the conclave, which they presumably understood as an affront. There were initial reports on CNN IBN that Singh might offer a compromise under  which Modi would be the convenor of the poll panel, not the chairman. Today however, it seems that Advani’s opinions are being overridden for the sake of the party’s larger agenda to name Modi in a formal announcement.