Modi finally crowned as poll panel chief
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 09 June 2013 14:53 IST
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has finally been named the chairman of the Election Campaign Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party for the forthcoming elections.
The announcement was formally made by party’s national president Rajnath Singh at the three-day national conclave of the party in Goa.
“The decision is taken by consensus”, Singh later told the media.
Earlier, he told the national executive members that Modi is the most appropriate person to lead the party to elections when the whole country is looking up to the BJP as the alternative.
Soon after the announcement, opposition leaders in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha - Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj - garlanded Modi on the stage.
The demand of making Modi the poll panel chief was caught up into controversy as several senior party leaders, led by party patriarch L K Advani, had opposed it.
Besides Advani, other leaders like Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh, Uma Bharati and Shatrughna Sinha had also skipped the party conclave, citing different reasons including illness.
In retaliation, pro-Modi workers had staged demonstration in front of Advani’s house in Delhi, chanting slogans in support of Modi.
The top party leaders had then tried to work out a compromise by making Modi the convenor, which was reportedly rejected by the Modi camp.
Rajnath Singh, who also supports Modi, later announced Modi as the chairman of the poll panel committee.
He had assured yesterday in inaugural speech that all the party workers would go to their respective states in a happy and enthusiastic mood.
