Reflecting his new-found clout, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was today inducted into BJP's Parliamentary Board, apparently setting the stage for a bigger national role for him.
Announcing Modi's inclusion in the party's highest decision-making body, BJP President Rajnath Singh released the list of his 74-member new team with controversial leader and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah, facing murder charges in two fake encounter cases, along with Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi as General Secretary and Rajya Sabha member Smriti Irani as Vice President.
62-year-old Modi was the sole BJP leader to be inducted into the 12-member Board, filling a lone vacancy, pipping Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan in a race in which Modi appeared to have had the advantage after his hat trick in Gujarat.
Modi's induction was on expected lines as there was a growing clamour within the party for giving him a prominent role outside Gujarat after his third consecutive victory in the Assembly polls recently.
The only Chief Minister to be included in the Parliamentary Board, Modi is being projected by many in BJP as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate and the new hope for bringing the party to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Incidentally, it was Singh who had removed Modi from the Parliamentary Board around six years back. Modi has also been made a member of the Central Election Committee, a body whose role will be crucial in ticket distribution in the 2014 polls.
Modi's stamp was also visible in other appointments announced today with Amit Shah becoming a General Secretary in Singh's team. Smriti Irani, considered close to Modi, has been elevated to the post of Vice President.
The team announced by Singh, who became President of the BJP for a second time in January when Nitin Gadkari was denied another term due to allegations of financial irregularities by his Purti Group, has Varun Gandhi, Murlidhar Rao and Rajiv Pratap Rudy as General Secretaries.
While many in BJP feel Varun Gandhi can be used as counter to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi especially in Uttar Pradesh, Rao has made the cut due to his proximity to Sangh fountainhead RSS. Rudy, a Rajya Sabha MP, is close to Singh and was a Spokesperson in the earlier team.
Hindutva face Uma Bharti, who was brought back to the BJP fold by Gadkari, has been appointed Vice President, along with former Karnataka Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda and former Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia.
