BJP Goa meet: Would there be final signal on Modi?

Panaji: The crown may not have sat pretty on Narendra Modi just yet, but the BJP’s national executive meet due in Goa this week, could well discuss Gujarat chief minister’s candidacy for the prime ministerial post. Speaking to Firstpost on Monday Laxmikant Parsenkar, member of the national executive and a former state president, conceded that “signals may be sent” during the national executive meet over who the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP would be. [caption id=“attachment_838055” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] Asked if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass would be discussing the crucial issue of the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Parsenkar said: “Some signals could be sent”. Parsenkar’s statement comes against the backdrop of denials by the party’s central leadership, that the prime ministerial candidate issue would be skipped at the Goa meet. Earlier, Parsenkar also admitted that Goa had proved a lucky ground for Narendra Modi as far as national executive meetings held in Goa are concerned. The last BJP national executive meeting hosted by Goa was in the summer of 2002, when a BJP-led coalition government was in power both at the Centre and in Goa. It was also held against backdrop of the post-Godhra riots and amidst increasing clamour for Modi’s head both within the party and outside it. The meeting however turned the swing in the BJP in Modi’s favour after then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee backed the Gujarat chief minister to the hilt. When asked to comment on Modi’s lucky reprieve in Goa and how the 2002 meet actually served as a springboard for Modi’s political fortunes, Parsenkar said: “There are a lot of interpretations. But there is truth to it”. Modi is expected to land in Goa at 12 noon on 7 June, on day one of the three day event and will also be the only BJP chief minister to address a meeting of top state leaders and office bearers near Panaji on the final day. “Modi ji is an object of affection for us. We have received requests to hold a public meeting even in the rains because they wanted to hear Modi ji speak. ‘Even if it rains, we will come with umbrellas’, our party men told us,” Parsenkar said.