In what could be said to be a balancing act by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and party stalwart Lal Krishna Advani, are sharing the dais at a party rally in Bhopal today.
This is the first time Modi and Advani are sharing the dais since the Gujarat chief minister's selection as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.
BJP President Rajnath Singh, Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and senior party leaders M. Venkaiah Naidu and Murli Manohar Joshi are also present at the 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' rally along with several other leaders.
Advani, who was against the BJP naming Modi as its prime ministerial candidate before the upcoming assembly polls to five states, had stayed away from the crucial BJP parliamentary board meeting on September 13 when the decision was announced.
Advani had also written a letter to BJP president Rajnath Singh to express his disappointment over the latter"s style of functioning.
However, while addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh, he publicly praised Modi on his elevation.
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"Gujarat has improved a lot in infrastructure and electricity. I give this example because, Narendra Modi, who my party has appointed as the 2014 PM candidate, has done a lot for the development of the state of Gujarat," he said.
The Karyakarta Mahakumbh is being organized to commemorate the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, a founding member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP.