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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership has agreed to a 12-member election campaign committee, chaired by Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat.
Meetings of the committee will be called by party head Rajnath Singh, in consultation with senior leader L K Advani and Modi. "Narendra Modi has been named first among equals and his role will be of a coordinator," said a senior who is close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
While a strong section of the leadership was opposed to the move and didn't want to work in a committee headed by Modi, peace was achieved after intervention of RSS heads.
"The committee will work under the leadership of Modi and only for the 2014 Lok Sabha election," said Ananth Kumar, general secretary of the party, while making the announcement. The panel comprises, among others, Sushma Swaraj, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha; her Rajya Sabha counterpart, Arun Jaitley; ex-party chiefs Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari; Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Madhya Pradesh chief minister; Raman Singh, the Chhattisgarh chief minister.
There are 20 sub-committees, headed by various seniors. Each would report on progress to the overall panel headed by Modi. According to party seniors, Rajnath Singh had to personally speak to all the leaders till minutes before the announcement.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and all other affiliates of the RSS have been brought in, too, to work for the general election.
The election campaign committee will oversee the work of preparation of the manifesto, which is the charge of Murli Manohar Joshi. The vision document will be prepared under Gadkari.
A 100 rallies will be organised by Ananth Kumar, starting from next month. Reaching to new or first-time voters is left to Amit Shah. The campaign on social media will be lead by Piyush Goyal. Gopinath Munde and Ravi Shankar Prasad will prepare the 'chargesheet' against the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Electronic and outdoor campaigning will be headed by Swaraj and Jaitley.
Also, Gadkari will lead the assembly election campaign for Delhi. Those for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will be handled by the state in-charge, along with parliamentary board members.
THE CORE TEAM
Election Campaign Committee
Narendra Modi, Chairman.
Members: Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot, Ram Lal, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Raman Singh and Manohar Parrikar
Sub-committees
Manifesto: Murli Manohar Joshi
Vision Document: Nitin Gadkari
Electronic campaign and publicity: Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley
Rallies: Ananth Kumar
Traditional campaign (street plays, songs): Smriti Irani
New voters and first-time voters: Amit Shah
Intellectuals and Professionals: Rajiv Pratap Rudy
Information communication campaign: Piyush Goyal
Northeast: SS Ahluwalia
