By Our Special Correspondent
Prime Minister Narendra Modi left on Sunday to take charge of the elections in his home state of Gujarat and held a closed-door meeting with members of the state's BJP core committee. However, two members of the 18-member core committee of the party were absent.
Former Deputy CM Nitin Patel was not present as former Minister Shankar Chaudhary broke his leg while in Brazil. Sources in the party said that Modi expressed his deep displeasure over the fact that the party leaders did not promote the welfare schemes of the central and state governments in the face of the growing influence of AAP. He reportedly told everyone at the meeting "with stern words" to bring good results in three months.
The Prime Minister's meeting was unscheduled at the state party headquarters 'Sri Kamal' in Gandhinagar. A party member, who declined to be named, said: “This meeting was not planned. We got information about the Prime Minister's visit around 5.30 pm on Sunday.
He said that the meeting lasted for about two hours, during which the Prime Minister discussed the counter-strategies of the Gujarat BJP against the opposition. “The Prime Minister told the party members not to take any political party lightly. All officials, ministers and MLAs have been issued orders to be more visible in one's constituency. "It seems that the Prime Minister has taken the direction of the Gujarat elections," he said.
During his two-day visit to his home state, Modi asked state ministers to counter Arvind Kejriwal's promises by aggressively promoting welfare schemes, sources said. Modi is known to be less than appreciative of his party members' electoral efforts.
Officially, the BJP still maintains that the Congress is the real opposition in the state and refuses to give any space to the AAP. Several BJP members at various levels in the organization agreed that AAP is growing rapidly in the state.
It is reported that the BJP has asked its workers in its internal surveys to prepare reports on the effectiveness of AAP's advertisements. The party is also seeking voter feedback on party- and booth-wise polling data. Another senior party leader, who did not want to be named, said the PM had received "complaints" against some senior Gujarat leaders who had been removed from ministerial posts and were inactive.
Modi also met BJP State General Secretary (Organization) Ratnakar for about 15 minutes. Ratnakar plays the role of coordinator between the party organization and the RSS. Related sources said that Modi discussed the ongoing party campaign and candidate selection process with him.
Gujarat government spokesperson Jitu Vaghani said he accepted the state leadership's request to attend the core committee meeting and asked the Prime Minister to clear the air about the meetings.
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