Ahmedabad

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will not be attending BJP national executive meeting to be held in Delhi on Friday. A senior official from the chief minister's office (CMO) told HT that the CM has Navratra fasts and hence would not make it to the party's meet in the national capital.

Modi's decision, citing Navaratra fasts, for not attending the crucial meet is being seen as a sign of rift between him and party stalwart LK Advani, who is embarking upon a national rathyatra from Bihar where chief minister Nitish Kumar will flag off the same.

Modi out, Bihar CM will flag off Advani rath yatra

It is well known that Nitish had ensured that Modi was not allowed to campaign for NDA during the last assembly polls in Bihar.

"Relations between Modi and Advani are not as smooth as earlier because of a number of factors. On September 25, Advani skipped his annual Somnath temple family puja that he has been doing for last 25 years," a Gujarat BJP MP said.

Video: Modi skips meet

He added that Modi considers himself as the only mass leader in the party and therefore sees Advani as a competitor for his national ambition.

Earlier, after Advani announced to launch a nationwide yatra, Modi, all of a sudden, announced a three day Sadbhavna fast, obliquely projecting him as the PM candidate ahead of next parliamentary polls.

Secondly, Modi was also not comfortable with Advani's idea of launching yatra from Gujarat from Sardar Patel birthplace Karamsad. That forced Advani to shift his venue to Bihar and he invited Nitish Kumar to flag off the yatra.

BJP leaders downplay Modi's absence