New Delhi: After a go-ahead from RSS on making Narendra Modi the prime ministerial candidate, BJP has started the exercise of finalising a date for holding a meeting of its Parliamentary Board to make the announcement.
Ramlal, general secretary (Organisation), who is the RSS pointsman in BJP, has been given the task of choosing a date before September 19 to hold a meeting of the Parliamentary Board, the party`s highest decision-making body.
"Since most of the members of the Parliamentary Board have prior engagements and are out of town on some days, Ramlal is trying to find a suitable date before the inauspicious `Pitripaksh` period begins on September 19 when they are in the capital," one of the members of the panel said.
There were reports that September 13 may be a probable date but Murli Manohar Joshi will be away in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, for a party programme.
Senior party leaders are ruling out September 15 as a possible date for the Parliamentary Board meeting as Modi is addressing a rally in Rewari, Haryana, on that day while senior leader LK Advani will address a public meeting on the same day in Fatehpur Sikri.
However, a meeting is possible in the evening as Modi is scheduled to come to Delhi from Rewari and fly back from here to Gandhinagar after the rally.
"The Parliamentary Board can also meet on September 14 or 16 and Modi may be asked to reach here a day before the rally or stay back for it on Monday. However, Rajnath Singh is to visit Mumbai on September 14," a party leader said.
BJP sources rule out September 17, Modi`s birthday, as both the party and RSS do not want to be seen as making him the PM candidate as a birthday gift.
Some of the Parliamentary Board members may be asked to cancel their programmes to attend the panel meeting in case no consensus date emerges.
RSS and BJP, with the exception of Advani and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, are keen that the announcement is made before Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
PTI
