New Delhi, September 30: With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kickstarting its national executive meet from Friday, party’s firebrand leader Narendra Modi is most likely to give it a miss, triggering speculation of difference within the party.
The official version given by the party is that the Gujarat Chief Minister is caught up in the busy schedule related to the Navaratra festival.
According to reports, the two-day meet of the party will be attended by all top leaders except Modi.
Speculations about a growing rift between Advani and Modi have been doing the rounds ever since the former shifted the venue of his much-publicised yatra against corruption from Gujarat to Bihar.
Party president Nitin Gadkari said here Thursday: “We are speaking to him. He comes usually, but there are some issues due to Navratras.”
However, some political circles attribute the “no show plan” to Modi’s differences with party leader LK Advani, who is planning a nation-wide ‘yatra’ from October 11.
Modi, who went on a three-day ‘sadbhavna’ (goodwill) fast in Ahmedabad earlier this month, is widely perceived as a prime ministerial candidate of the BJP.
In a politically significant move, it was announced that Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar will flag off Advani’s yatra from Bihar.
As per the announcement, the BJP veteran will commence his yatra from Sitab Diyara – the birthplace of nationalist leader Jai Prakash Narayan – on October 11.
Advani’s yatra was earlier scheduled to commence from Gujarat’s Somnath Temple and state’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi was to flag it off.
—-Agencies