Monday is going to be crucial for BJP’s campaign committee chief Narendra Modi. The jumbo conclave of Sangh Parivar affiliates here on Sunday did not formally discuss the BJP’s PM-candidate issue though some leaders asked for finalising a ‘face’ to dethrone the UPA.
The subject was not on the agenda of the first day of the coordination meeting, which had five different sessions on current economic situation and internal security problems. “Issue (of PM-candidate) is not discussed in such a jumbo meeting of 65 leaders,” said a source, who attended the meeting.
Parivar leaders feel the PM-candidate issue could be discussed in a smaller group of RSS-BJP leaders when Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat joins the meeting on Monday. He was out of town on Sunday.
September 19, the day the inauspicious fortnight of Pitra Paksha begins, is seen as the deadline for the BJP to take a call on projecting Narendra Modi as the PM candidate. Any delay beyond this date would mean that this issue would be revisited only after the Assembly polls in five States. Year-end election for these States is expected to be announced around September 22.
Given the viewpoint of a section of the party that any announcement should be done only after the Assembly polls to avoid polarisation in the States, Modi supporters in the BJP wanted the RSS to issue a “diktat”.
However, the Parivar fountainhead is not willing to stick out its neck on this tricky issue. The RSS has apparently asked the BJP to take a decision about Modi’s future role on its own, as every consequence of it would have to be faced by the party.
A vertically divided Parliamentary Board of the BJP has also made the RSS keep a ‘safe’ distance from the issue though the RSS has conveyed to the BJP leadership that party workers and sympathisers want the Gujarat Chief Minister to be projected as the face for the next election.
Meanwhile, the Parivar conclave discussed in great detail the issues that need to be taken to the people from the block level upwards.It will also chalk out strategy for better coordination between Sangh organisations, they said.
The Sangh outfits plan to carry out programmes to reach out to all sections- minorities, SC, OBCs, tribals, women and the young- in tandem. Among other issues, the VHP’s recent yatra in UP which was not allowed by the state government and the incidents of communal riots causing polarisation of communities will also came up for discussion. Some announcements about the programmes are likely on Sunday.