Mumbai (TIP): The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh brass has asked Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to focus on the assembly elections in the state and leave the decision of prime ministerial candidate to the Nationalist Democratic Alliance (NDA). The RSS’ subtle message was necessary to rein in Modi on the one hand and bring the rebels to work for the party in the state polls.

At a meeting held at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur last Sunday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat issued a stern message to the Gujarat chief minister not to go overboard in self-projection for the top post using the assembly elections.
Highly placed sources in the RSS told DNA, “While RSS leaders assured Modi of support in the state assembly elections, they made it clear that even he should know his grounds.” Modi had rushed to Nagpur to meet RSS leaders to apprise them about the growing dissidents against him by the former chief minister Kesubhai Patel and Vishwa Hindu Parishad lead by Praveen Togadia. Modi has also been wary about frequent visits of his rival former BJP general secretary Sanjay Joshi in Gujarat ahead elections.

A senior RSS leader, who is now working in the BJP on conditions of anonymity said, “RSS leaders have been receiving complaints from various quarters about Modi using the assembly campaign to project himself as the next prime minister.”
The political managers in the BJP are quick to point out that barely 24 hours after the RSS-Modi meeting, BJP president Nitin Gadkari found himself facing corruption charges related to his power plants and agriculture land in Vidarbha. In the last three days Gadkari also held series of meeting with RSS leaders to explain his case.

The Gujarat assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 17 and December 20.