A section in the BJP disclosed that despite a huge chunk of functionaries and leaders rooting for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the RSS was somewhat “reluctant” to make him the BJP’s face for the 2014 polls. The RSS top brass, which has a “tight grip” on the BJP, apprehends that its influence “might wane” with Mr Modi playing a dominant role in saffron politics, sources said.
A party analyst pointed out that during the Assembly polls Mr Modi lost heavily in north Gujarat, supposed to be a Sangh bastion. The RSS brass, which backed former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, would have preferred him to take centrestage during the general election, sources said.
The meeting of the seers is likely to set a fresh deadline for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. It was learnt that pamphlets for construction of a Ram temple were being distributed at the Mahakumbh site.
Mr Modi will attend the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on February 12, his office said.
Though Mr Modi is likely to stay away from the meet, he has already sought the blessings of the seers. Speculation is rife that a section in the VHP “wants the seers to bless Modi”. Even if the meet does not endorse Mr Modi’s candidature for the party’s prime ministerial candidate, the “blessing”, if given, would send a “strong signal” to the Hindutva vote bank, a BJP functionary said.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh is to attend the meet on Wednesday. Though Mr Singh is expected to be one of the “blue-eyed boys” of the Sangh, sour-ces disclosed that he was not in favour of a hard Hindutva line.