Friday, 30 September 2011

PM battle within BJP hots up as Modi skips meet

NEW DELHI: BJP leaders on Friday downplayed the absence of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi at the party's national executive committee meeting, saying there is no infighting in the party.


"Infighting is there in the Congress and not in our party," senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters here when asked about Modi's absence from the meeting.


Denying any rift between senior leaders of the party, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "There is no clash".


Barring Modi and former Karantaka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, all prominent BJP leaders attended the two-day national meet of the party.


Modi's absence from the crucial meeting comes in the backdrop of talks of differences between him and senior party leader L K Advani.


However, other party leaders refrained from taking any stand on the issue.
When asked about Modi skipping the meeting, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, said that she was unaware of the reason.
"I have no information about this. I have come to know about this through the media. I will see what the matter is and then comment on it during lunch," said Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said that the question of Modi skipping the meet should be put to the Gujarat Chief Minister himself.
"Ask Modiji about this. I have no information about anyone attending the meeting or skipping the meeting," said Joshi.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha maintained a diplomatic stand on the issue of the PM candidate of the party.
"Advani is a very capable leader, Modi is a capable leader also. The party will have to take a decision on the candidate for prime minister," said Sinha.
Modi has chosen to skip the meeting as he is reportedly miffed with veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani after he announced that his Rath Yatra would start from Sitabdiara, the birthplace of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, in Saran district of Bihar, instead of Gujarat.

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