Will Modi get a bigger role ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls?

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) three-day national executive committee meet begins on Friday and the national council is expected to discuss the preparations for Assembly Elections later in 2013 and galvanise workers for the Lok Sabha Elections scheduled in 2014 in New Delhi. Sources say Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be in the limelight at the meeting with voices having already risen for declaring him as the prime ministerial candidate for the general elections.

However, a formal resolution has yet to be made on whether the Gujarat Chief Minister will receive any responsibility in the Lok Sabha elections. It will be first meeting of the national council after Modi's third successive win in the Assembly elections in Gujarat. Sources also added that the national council would endorse election of Rajnath Singh as party president.

The conclave is crucial as it will be the first such meeting after the election of Rajnath Singh as party chief. During the next three days, the party leadership will discuss a host of issues including the internal security situation in the wake of Hyderabad blasts, scams including the VVIP chopper deal, economic slowdown and Indo-Pak ties.

Karnataka is the only southern state where BJP is in power. The term of state Assembly will end in June 2013. The party has begun preparations for Assembly polls later in 2013 in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. The national executive meeting will start with the address of Rajnath.

The BJP National Executive and Council will also examine details of how to take on the UPA government by highlighting its "failures" on the economic and security front. Sources said significant decisions like appointment of the new team of central office-bearers and elevation of Modi and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan to the Central Parliamentary

Board are likely to take place after the conclave. These issues are likely to come up for discussion informally during the meet, sources said.

BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the national executive and nation council meetings will have four and nine sessions, respectively. "In three days of the meeting we will discuss the strategy for upcoming elections with the motto 'Sushasan sankalp BJP vikalp' (BJP is promise to good governance). Naqvi said the economic, social, political situation and challenges before the country will be discussed in the Council and executive meeting.

The National Council, will pass two resolutions. There will be a resolution on the political situation prevailing in the country and will deal with the "policy paralysis" within the UPA government and the "grim" internal security scenario. It will mainly focus on terrorism in the wake of the Hyderabad blasts. The government's allegations of BJP and RSS sponsoring terrorism, and the Ram Setu issue are also likely to figure in the discussions.

All members of the National Council and executive, MPs and MLAs in state assemblies, state office bearers, national co-ordinators of morchas, co-coordinators, all district presidents and general secretaries among others will participate in the Council meeting.

The national executive meeting, with about 200 members, will be held in NDMC convention centre and the national Council comprising of over 2,000 leaders will be held in Talkatora Indoor stadium in New Delhi.

The Economic Resolution will point out the "wrong economic policies" of the UPA government which has led to price rise, fall in GDP growth to 5 per cent, plight of farmers, lack of foreign investment in multi-brand retail sector among other issues.

(With Additional Inputs from PTI)