Modi replaced by Rajnath as BJP election campaign panel chief

A fortnight after he was anointed as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi today relinquished the post of Election Campaign Committee Chief to which party President Rajnath Singh was appointed.

Modi, who was declared the PM candidate by the party top brass on September 13, today proposed the name of Singh in the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting for the post of Election Campaign Committee Chief.

"Modi proposed Rajnath Singh's name and it was accepted unanimously by all the Parliamentary Board members," BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar told reporters.

Party leaders said this decision was on expected lines as Modi could not have run his own campaign.

Kumar said since 20 sub-committees have already been formed under the Election Campaign Committee and these are headed by various senior leaders, it was only proper that Rajnath Singh be appointed to head the panel.

While today's decision was taken without much ado, Modi's elevation as Election Campaign Committee Chief on June 9 at the BJP conclave in Goa had created a lot of heat. The decision on Modi was then taken despite reservations of senior leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj.

Advani had even quit all party posts in protest but took back his resignation after RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat intervened.

JD(U), a key NDA ally for 17 years, had walked out of the coalition as it feared Modi's elevation would wean away its Muslim voters.

The Parliamentary Board meeting today also discussed the ordinance on convicted MPs and MLAs. Kumar said the party appeals to the President of India not to sign the ordinance.

The panel also discussed the voters' right to reject and said with it the matter of compulsory voting naturally comes to the fore.

BJP demanded that an all-party meeting should be called to discuss this issue.