Narendra Modi meets Murli Manohar Joshi;may get role in the government

NEW DELHI: Amid speculation about the possible role for BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in the new government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met the party veteran at the latter’s residence to discuss related issues. It was a surprise visit to Joshi’s house, where he held a oneon-one meeting. Later, minister of state (independent charge) for commerce and industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, also met Joshi.

Though the party leaders were guarded about the issues discussed at the meeting, sources said the topic was a possible role for Joshi in the new dispensation. Joshi’s office and Sitharaman did not respond to repeated attempts by ET to contact them. There have been reports that Joshi may be given the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, though the front-runner is eight-time Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan.

If not the Speaker, Joshi may be given the post of Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, according to sources. Incidentally, Modi decided not to give the defence portfolio to Joshi and instead chose to hand over the ministry to Arun Jaitley as an additional responsibility along with finance and corporate affairs. Modi had set an age limit of 75 for BJP leaders to qualify as ministers in his Cabinet, thus ruling out Joshi who is 80 years old. Joshi was said to be willing to work under Modi.