Modi gets nod to defuse crisis by including dissidents in Cabinet

In an apparent attempt at damage control, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Venakiah Naidu is understood to have given the green signal to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to expand his Cabinet and induct some key dissidents, who have openly sought the chief minister's removal.

Top BJP sources said while Modi could be replaced at some later date, as of now, the BJP did not want to bow to pressure from dissident BJP MLAs and appoint a new chief minister.

Last week, Gujarat MLA Purushottam Solanki had publicly criticised the chief minister and blamed him for the party's electoral debacle in the state, and about 60 BJP MLAs had joined him in demanding Modi's ouster.

The incident prompted BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu to issue a show-cause notice to Solanki, who then apologised to Modi for his harsh comments.

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, Modi's biggest rival and the man thought to be behind the rash of complaints against him, was in Delhi today and met Naidu.

Naidu asked Patel about the mood of the dissident MLAs in Gujarat and assured him that their criticism of Modi's high-handed methods would be acted upon. However, he was also critical of the way the MLAs had been conducting themselves by complaining against the chief minister publicly.

Soon after his meeting with Patel, Naidu called on party leader LK Advani at his residence, where the two discussed the Gujarat issue and the formation of a new national executive that is to be set up later this month.

As new party presidents are to be appointed in seven states, including Gujarat, Patel conveyed to Naidu that he would like one of his proteges to be appointed as the BJP chief in Gujarat. Naidu and Advani also discussed this appointment.

Party sources said the two leaders also discussed the meeting of the parliamentary party tomorrow, which will endorse the appointment of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the chairman of the BJP parliamentary party and LK Advani as the leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha and leader of the Opposition.

This will involve an amendment in the party's constitution as the chairman of the parliamentary party is usually also the leader of the Opposition. However, there will now be two separate posts.

The deputy chairman of the parliamentary party will be Jaswant Singh.