Buzz in the political circles are rife with speculations whether chief minister Narendra Modi will attend the 2-day national executive meeting on May 25-26 in Mumbai or will he give it a miss.
Incidentally, Modi's possible decision is crucial as he had earlier skipped the same meeting held in September last year in Delhi.
Modi allegedly had not attended the meeting over inclusion his bete noire Sanjay Joshi for looking after election work at Uttar Pradesh. The Mumbai meeting is crucial for Modi for two reasons: One for the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls, and two, top leaders attending the meet may also decide on the issue of a new national president of BJP.
According to sources in the BJP, if Modi skips this meeting, the issue may raise speculations about his growing distance with party veterans. However, nobody actually knows whether the CM will attend the meeting or not. "The chief minister is unlikely to attend the BJP national executive meeting. But, he may change his mind at the last minute," says a minister in the Modi cabinet.
It is pertinent to note that Modi's relation with his mentor Advani had deteriorated last year after the Sadbhavana fasts. However, it is claimed that relations between both the top leaders had been restored as Advani praised Modi for his apperance in Time magazine's cover and they shared the dais in a function held in Ahmedabad.
