BJP takes 1st step, to make Modi poll campaign head

, Feb 18: The

, which has been buying time for long over settling the prime ministerial issue, is set to make Gujarat Chief Minister

the head of its campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The role of Modi, which will be to supplement a "positive agenda" for governance that the BJP has been working on to put up before the people ahead of the election, has received the consent of the RSS, it was learnt. The move is expected to be backed up gradually as the party prepares for its National Executive and National Council meetings early next month.

Sources said party president Rajnath Singh, who took over from Nitin Gadkari in January, was also working on setting up groups which will draw up a constructive agenda for the party before the big polls. The party was stressing specific actions in key areas like economy, particularly industrial growth, transparent governance and security, both internal and external.

The party had a number of brainstorming sessions where the leaders felt that although it had run effective campaigns on issues like corruption, they were largely negative and needed to be backed with a bigger campaign emphasising on an alternative vision. It was said that the BJP was looking at long-term prospects instead of just trying to destabilise the government.

Modi, who won his third consecutive election in Gujarat in December last year, has always projected himself as a leader who prioritises a governance model instead of just attacking the Congress-led government at the Centre over its failure. The leader said during a conclave of BJP chief ministers in August last year that the party should highlight a positive agenda against the failure of the UPA government.

The party has endorsed Modi's advice and is making an effort to change its image of constantly disrupting the Parliament over various issues.

OneIndia News