E-Paper
Narendra Modi to supervise elections in the western region
L.K. Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be involved in planning and executing BJP's central campaign and supervising the elections in the country's western region – Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa.
According to the plan chalked out by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate, L.K. Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be involved in planning and executing BJP's central campaign and supervising the elections in the country's western region – Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa.
Modi is also likely to be inducted into the BJP's highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board.
The other top second-line leaders – Arun Jaitely, Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu – will be handed new region-wise responsibilities to kick-start the party's campaign in the next few days.
Jaitely will handle the north – Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar, while Swaraj will take care of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, in addition to being BJP's candidate from Bhopal for the Lok Sabha poll.
Venkaiah Naidu will look after the south – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Orissa.
Significantly, BJP chief Rajnath Singh will supervise only Uttar Pradesh, his home state, and Uttarakhand, although Jaitley has been looking after UP till date.
Meanwhile, the BJP's national council adopted two resolutions on agriculture and on the economic situation. The BJP pledged to write off all farm loans, fix an interest rate of 4 per cent for farmers and subsidise seeds and fertilisers, pension and water for every field and work for every hand.
The party, in its economic resolution, which was moved by former finance minister Yaswant Sinha and supported by M.M. Joshi, also talked of a 10-point agenda for reviving the economy.
