Gandhinagar/New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party’s parliamentary board will meet in Delhi on 17 May, a day after Lok Sabha poll results are declared.
“I have told Narendra Modi to come to Delhi on 17. I will convene the Parliamentary Board meeting on that date to decide the earliest date to hold BJP parliamentary party meet to formally elect Narendrabhai as our leader,” BJP chief Rajnath Singh told reporters here last night after a three-hour meeting the party’s core group leaders at Modi’s residence.
Singh said that they have discussed their plan with Narendra Modi for a parliamentary board meeting after the poll results and asked all the National Democratic Alliance parties to show their complete support for him.
“I have requested that after the result of 16th, on 17th Modi should come to Delhi and we will call for a parliamentary meeting and he could be officially chosen as the leader and as many NDA allies are there, I request them to show their support for Modi.
I would also like that in the presence of all the NDA allies, Modi is elected as the NDA leader,” said Singh.
Singh also added that they would welcome support from any other political party.
Earlier, speaking to media soon after their arrival at Ahmedabad Airport, Rajnath Singh said: “We (BJP or NDA) are absolutely confident of achieving a clear majority in the 2014 elections.
Till the results are out, I can’t and won’t say more. There is no doubt that Narendra Modi is our (BJP’s) prime ministerial candidate and nominee. We (Modi and other BJP leaders) have been talking on phone.
I have been talking to him on phone, and I have made the suggestion that everything can’t be discussed over the phone, and that we need to come over (to Gandhinagar or New Delhi) to sit together and discuss all issues in a calm manner.”
When he was asked what roles the expected Modi-led BJP or NDA Government at the Centre had planned for veteran leaders like L.K.Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi, Singh said this would be spelt out in due course, and added that all leaders of the BJP would be kept in the loop, and would present a united face, when it came to announcing the decisions taken.
Senior BJP leaders have been holding a series of meetings in New Delhi and discussions are said to have focused on the possibility of the party forming the next government at the Centre and changes in the organisation ahead of counting of votes on May 16.
BJP leaders also discussed the possibility of seeking the support of some allies, including the BJD, the AIADMK and the NCP.
