Modi may skip key BJP meet in Delhi

However,Modi has earlier taken part in election campaigns and meetings across the country during Navratri.

A senior leader in the state BJP said,“He (Modi) has differences with some national leaders (mainly L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj) who are still against his projection as the prime ministerial candidate. So,to avoid public confrontation,he is preferring to stay away. However,there is intense pressure from the national BJP on him to participate in the meeting to avoid giving wrong signals. So,he may change his mind in the end.”

Speculation about a growing rift between Advani and Modi has been doing the rounds ever since the former shifted the venue of his much-publicised yatra against corruption from Gujarat to Bihar.

In a politically significant move,it was announced that Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (U) leader Nitish Kumar will flag off Advani’s yatra from Bihar.

As per the announcement,the BJP veteran will commence his yatra from Sitab Diyara,the birthplace of nationalist leader Jai Prakash Narayan,on October 11.

Advani’s yatra was earlier scheduled to commence from Gujarat’s Somnath Temple and Modi was to flag it off.

For the first time in the last 20 years,Advani skipped his September 25 annual visit to Somnath this year. He comes to visit Somnath every year on September 25 to mark his landmark 1991 rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya yatra.