Narendra Modi meets L.K. Advani, steps up discussions over government formation

New Delhi BJPs prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi Sunday met senior party leader LK Advani as well as other leaders including from alliance partners as part of consultations aimed at formation of the new NDA governmentBharatiya Janata Party BJP senior leader LK Advani right interacts with BJPs prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a rally in Gujarat Pic AFPModi who steered the Bharatiya Janata Partyled National Democratic Alliance to a thumping victory in the Lok Sabha election met Advani at the latters residence hereThe meeting was apparently to signal that Advani was being kept informed of key decisions and his wishes would be ascertained about his role in the new government The two had also met at the BJPs parliamentary board meeting SaturdayThere has been speculation that Advani may be offered the post of the Lok Sabha speaker but party leaders said that the patriarch may be keen on a more active political roleAdvani had initially signalled his differences over the partys decision to elevate Modi as the partys lead campaigner for the Lok Sabha elections but had later reconciled to the decisionAs Modi held discussions several BJP leaders also went to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSS office in the capital However its spokesperson Ram Madhav as well as BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu maintained that the organisation will have no role in the formation of the union cabinetSources said Modi held discussions with his close aide Amit Shah party general secretary JP Nadda former Karnataka chief minister BS Yedyurappa and Bihar incharge Dharmendra PradhanLok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan and his son Chirag and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje also met Modi as well as Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio who won the lone parliamentary seat in his stateBJP president Rajnath Singh also met a number of leaders of the National Democratic Alliance including National Peoples Party chief and former Lok Sabha speaker PA SangmaA meeting of BJP parliamentary party has been called Tuesday but the party has not decided a date for Modi to be sworn in as prime ministerModi has a delicate task of forming a government when the BJP has got a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own for the first timeThe ministers and their portfolios have to be decided in consultation with senior leaders the partys internal matrix and relative seniority of various leaders as regional aspirations have also to be taken into considerationAlso the representation from NDA partners like Shiv Sena Telugu Desam Party Shiromani Akali Dal and Lok Janshakti Party has to be factored inThere has been speculation about the role of the RSS the ideological fountainhead of BJP in the process of government formation as it has played a role in sorting out the partys internal tensions but Naidu as well Madhav ruled it outThe question does not arise The Sangh never interferes in such matters Naidu said when asked about the role the RSS in formation of new governmentWe are swayamsevaks We come here to the Sangh headquarters to meet our seniors That is part of our lifeThere is nothing big about it This is a task of the BJP and its leadership is competent enough to take its decisions after consultations among themselves he said after a meeting with RSS leaders at the organisations office hereMadhav who was in Jaipur said the Sangh has not given any guidelines to the BJP or to ModiThe RSS never keeps any remote control to perform any role in politics and government he saidBesides Naidu Kalraj Mishra Pradhan Gopinath Munde Harsh Vardhan and Rajiv Pratap Rudy were among BJP leaders who visited the RSS office