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This is because senior BJP leaders continue to debate if Modi should be made in-charge of the party's campaign and selection committee for the Lok Sabha election and also to include him in the parliamentary board, the highest decision making body. Although Modi continued to hog the limelight on the first day of the national executive, the party has not yet made a final decision when to give him a national role.
Interestingly, in his first speech as the BJP president, Singh did not mention the Ram Mandir or 'Saffron terror' issue which the party had raised with all its strength during the all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar before the Budget session of Parliament. The BJP had decided to boycott Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for accusing the party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of terrorist training. Although the RSS is still annoyed with Shinde's statement (he later expressed regret), the BJP had accepted his apology and decided not to raise the issue.
Blaming the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance for corruption and economic mismanagement, Singh praised Modi for winning the assembly election in Gujarat thrice in a row.
"Narendra Modi is the only BJP chief minister to have won three assembly elections consecutively. Since the national executive is happening after the Gujarat election, Rajnath Singh praised the Gujarat chief minister," said Ravi Shankar Prasad, senior BJP leader.
The BJP president then went on to mention that the European Union (EU) has also decided to start engaging Gujarat chief minister in a dialogue. Members of the EU had decided to boycott Modi after the 2002 riots in the state and it is only after a gap of more than 10 years that the Gujarat chief minister was called by EU for a dialogue and lunch on January 7 this year.
Singh again congratulated Modi for the third time in his speech when he spoke about the performance of BJP-ruled states. Although Singh mentioned the names of all the chief ministers, including that of Madhya Pradesh, for giving agriculture loan at zero per cent interest and Chhattisgarh for its public distribution system (PDS), Modi was yet again singled out and congratulated by Rajnath Singh for promoting 'good governance' in Gujarat.
