While BJP president Rajnath Singh took about a month and a half to strike a suitable factional balance before assigning responsibilities to his team of office bearers,this task is far from over. Competing demands have cropped up regarding setting up of an election campaign committee for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls or constituting an election management committee for all elections,including Assembly polls. The idea of a central campaign committee,headed by Narendra Modi,was envisaged during Nitin Gadkaris stint as party president. Sources in the BJP have acknowledged the surfacing of competing suggestions for election management committee headed by a former party president,most likely Gadkari. An election management committee will cover all polls be it Assembly or national elections, said a BJP source,adding that the push for this idea came from supporters of L K Advani. What is the harm in assigning this task to Gadkari? Past presidents do get responsibilities, said a source. The competing demands of campaign committee and management committee holds significance in the wake of internal wranglings within the BJP for prime ministerial candidate. The idea of election campaign committee,party sources said,was floated to project Modi without antagonising the NDA partners. A faction claims the idea of election management committee may be a ploy to dent Modis claim within the party. However,given Singhs public claim that national elections may be advanced,he will have to take a decision one way or the other. The composition and scope of either of the committees is going to rivet the party president. With BJP national executive slated for next month,Singh will have to find a way to avoid it becoming a thorny issue. BJP chief again cancels visit to Lucknow A visit to Lucknow seems to be jinxed for BJP national president Rajnath Singh. Four months have passed since he became party president,but so far he could not visit Lucknow,the capital of his home state. On Sunday,he cancelled his two visits scheduled for May 28 and June 2,accounting for five cancellations since he took over the reins of the party. Rajnath Singh cancelled his May 28 visit in the wake of the Naxals attack on Congress leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh. He was scheduled to attend a family function of the partys LS member from Bansgaon Kamlesh Paswan in Lucknow. On June 2,Rajnath Singh was to court arrest in Lucknow as part of the party's Jail Bharo Andolan against alleged corruption and misrule of the UPA government. With the visit being cancelled,spokesperson Manoj Mishra said now senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi will lead the protest.
