Elections 2014: To decide L K Advani role in government, Narendra Modi meets mentor

NEW DELHI: It was a busy Sunday in the capital with PM-designate Narendra Modi meeting BJP leaders through the day mostly at Gujarat Bhawan, before firming up his decisions on government formation. While the date for Modi's swearing-in is yet to be finalized, it is learnt that May 24 is being considered.

Hectic consultations were on, both among BJP and RSS leaders, as Modi went over to party patriarch L K Advani's residence just after noon, for the first formal meeting with him after leading the party to a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha polls. The two had met during the party's parliamentary board meeting on Saturday.

With Modi in total command, little has been spilling out on who gets what in the new government. Hence, apart from meetings with Modi, BJP leaders were also busy on Sunday calling up each other to get a feel of things and speculate over what is in store.

While there was no word on what had been discussed between Modi and Advani, sources said it had to do with the role the party veteran could play in the new dispensation and also on Modi's possible Cabinet plans. Since Advani, who was deputy PM in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, cannot be part of his junior's Cabinet, the post of Lok Sabha Speaker is being considered for him. Advani, it is learnt, is agreeable on the constitutional post, which is independent of the government, but there are those in the party who are against the idea. The final call, however will be taken by Modi in consultation with RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat, it is learnt. Modi is learnt to have told Advani on Sunday that as PM he would need the veteran's "wisdom".

With Gujarat Bhawan as the centre of activities on Sunday, a number of ministerial hopefuls including Karnataka leaders B S Yeddyurappa and party general secretary Ananth Kumar were among the first to call on Modi while party chief Rajnath Singh held meetings with top leaders Arun Jaitley, Amit Shah and general secretary (organization) Ram Lal, an RSS pointsman in BJP. Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje also met Modi.

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, whose party won six seats in Bihar, called on Modi along with his wife and son Chirag, who has also been elected. Another ally Neiphiu Rio, who heads Naga People's Front (NPF) and has won the lone Lok Sabha seat in the state, also met Modi, who is likely to incorporate NDA partners in his Cabinet, sources said.

The RSS is also playing its part in government formation, even as the Sangh denies that it has any role beyond making suggestions to the party. BJP leaders M Venkaiah Naidu, Kalraj Mishra, Harsh Vardhan, Gopinath Munde and Rajiv Pratap Rudy met RSS leaders here.

With the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar in trouble, as the first fallout of the Lok Sabha election results in favour of BJP, party general secretary in-charge of the state Dharmendra Pradhan also met Modi to brief him on political developments in Patna.

The meetings came a day after the BJP parliamentary board, the highest decision-making body of the party, met here for the first time after the landslide victory to decide issues related to government formation.

It was decided on Saturday that Modi will be formally elected as leader of the BJP parliamentary party at its meeting here on May 20 ahead of taking oath as PM.