By Rupang Bhatt, Ahmedabad, 25 May 2012

Will Narendra Modi be inducted to BJP’s parliamentary board, which is the party’s highest decision-making body?

Journalist friends in Delhi on whom I can rely inform that a decision in this regard has been already taken and announcement will be made shortly.

This reminds me the initial period of year 2007.

Modi would never say it in public, but the way his party dropped him from the parliamentary board in 2007, it was clear injustice to him. More so, it was embarrassing and humiliating for a leader of his stature.

It was January 2007 when then party president Rajnath Singh dropped Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley both from central parliamentary board.

Rajnath removed Jaitley as the chief spokesman, but he was allowed to continue as party’s general secretary. Jaitley later could enter into the supreme decision-making body of party again, but not Narendra Modi, who was dropped from the parliamentary board with Jaitley.

After a decision to drop Modi from party’s supreme body, the official stand of the party was that it was party president’s prerogative to do so, and he did so after consultation with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani.

It should be mentioned here that 2007 was an election year in Gujarat, and Modi’s removal from parliamentary board had become a major cause of joy for Modi-opponents.

Rajnath Singh later in one interview with Outlook reportedly admitted that the decision to keep Jaitley out of the parliamentary board was “70 percent RSS and 30 percent my decision”, and that to drop Modi was 50-50.

Parliamentary board is a body that takes decision on party’s assembly, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha candidates.

When Gujarat BJP sent the names of proposed Rajya Sabha candidates in April this year, the parliamentary board had not announced the names in the first list.

Ahead of last Lok Sabha poll, when Modi was of opinion that Harin Pathak should not be given party ticket to contest Ahmedabad seat, and Kaushik Patel should be given a chance instead, party’s parliamentary board didn’t support Modi and Harin Pathak was selected for candidature.

It is fact that in party’s parliamentary board, there is none who can be described is Modi’s man. Yes Modi’s friend is there in the parliamentary board, but he is Modi’s friend and well wisher, not Modi’s man.

When Gujarat election is scheduled to take place in six months from now, Modi’s direct or indirect presence in party’s parliamentary board is crucial for him. Remember, the list of the candidates for Gujarat assembly poll will be okayed by the parliamentary board only.

Presently RSS backed Nitin Gadkari as a party president is Chairman of the parliamentary board, while Advani’s man Ananth Kumar is Secretary. Shri Vajpayee is member of the board but he is physically unable to attend its meetings.

Other members are Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, M.Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh(all past presidents of the party), Sushma Swaraj(leader of opposition in Lok Sabha), Arun Jaitley(leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha), Prof Balasaheb Apte(known as not pro-Modi), Thawarchand Gehlot(senior party man from Madhya Pradesh, who has been now appointed as chief of party’s election affairs) and Ramlal ji(RSS man placed in BJP).

If you think, Raman kumar, Shivraj Sinh Chauhan, Modi, Parikar are actual faces of BJP in mass, none of them at present is part of party’s supreme body.

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