Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha on Saturday rubbished media reports that he was not attending the Goa conclave because he is sick, and said that he is not suffering from 'NaMonia', as has been headlined in many dailies.
"I am not suffering from 'NaMonia'. I am in perfect health, but there can be several other reasons for me not going to Goa," he told mediapersons here, while expressing his displeasure over media publishing baseless stories about him.
Several BJP leaders, including party veteran Lal Krishna Advani, gave the two-day national executive meet in Goa a miss, prompting the ruling Congress Party to say 'Namonitis' had struck the BJP. They were calling it 'NaMonia' on Twitter.
Advani's absence from the office bearer's meeting in Goa has given a clear indication that he is upset with the proposal of making Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi the face of the party's poll campaign panel. There are even reports in the media quoting him, as insisting that BJP president Rajnath Singh should take key party decisions only in his presence.
Advani earlier on Friday skipped an important session of the 12 office-bearers of BJP. According to certain media reports, a chartered flight that was hired to take Advani to Goa this morning for the party's national executive was cancelled.
Some senior BJP leaders, close to Advani, are also opposed to Modi being projected as the party's foremost leader. Jaswant Singh, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and Shatrughan Sinha are also not attending the Goa conclave.
Sending out a strong message that there is no conflict within the outfit, Rajnath Singh yesterday said Advani is unwell and will be attending the national executive meet tomorrow.
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"Due to Advaniji's ill-health, I told him not to attend the meet today. He will reach Goa tomorrow," he told mediapersons here, when asked about Advani's absence.
BJP Vice President Smriti Irani, however, yesterday said that the Parliamentary Board of the party would take a final decision on whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would head the party's poll panel.
"Well, we all know what the Goa Chief Minister wants, we all know what the nation wants and what the workers want. But let me humbly remind you as the office bearer of Bharatiya Janata Party that ultimately our national president Rajnathji has said that we all have to wait and see what the parliamentary board wants," said Irani.
Ahead of the BJP national executive meet, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar had come out strongly in support of Modi, and said that the latter should lead the BJP's election campaign.