Highlight Congress corruption, Modi tells leaders

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked his party's Maharashtra unit leaders to talk about “good governance in BJP-ruled states and highlight corruption in the Congress”.

In his first visit to Maharashtra after his appointment as the BJP poll campaign committee chief, Modi discussed strategies for 2014 polls in the core committee meeting with the state unit’s top brass.

Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, however, did not take part in the meeting.

BJP general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy, party's national spokesman Prakash Javadekar, BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, state unit president Devendra Fadanvis, respective Leaders of Opposition in the Assembly and in the council, Eknath Khadse and Vinod Tawde, were among those present during the closed-door meeting.

Briefing media about the meeting Javadekar said: “ We wanted to assess our party's poll preparedness in all the states. He (Modi) asked Maharashtra unit leaders to bring to the public domain Congress corruption and the quality of governance in the states ruled by us.”  On being asked about Gadkari’s absence at the core committee meeting, the party said he was in Delhi giving visa interview for his forthcoming visit to Norway.

Later in the evening, Modi spoke to stock brokers at Bombay Stock Exchange at a book release function.