MM Joshi meets RSS chief, bats for ‘sidelined’ leaders

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi called on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the headquarters of the outfit here on Wednesday and reportedly batted for respectable positions in new government for ‘sidelined’ saffron leaders of his ilk.

A former HRD minister in the NDA regime, Joshi during his meeting with Bhagwat is believed to have sought RSS’ intervention to ensure that senior party leaders get their due and respect if the BJP-led NDA forms government at centre, sources said.

Joshi had reluctantly ‘vacated’ his Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh for BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi and contested election from Kanpur.

Besides Joshi, party veterans like LK Advani and Jaswant Singh too were ‘sidelined’ apparently for not falling in line.

Singh had desired to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Barmer in Rajasthan but the party denied him a ticket. He then entered the fray as an Independent, an action for which he was expelled from the party last month.

Similarly, Advani was asked to contest from his traditional Gandhinagar seat in Gujarat against his reported desire to shift to Bhopal seat.

Joshi, who heads BJP’s manifesto committee, interacted with Bhagwat in presence of senior RSS leader and its liaison man in BJP Suresh Soni.

Joshi discussed several issues, including seats the BJP and its allies are likely to win in polls, sources said.

According to sources, Joshi told Bhagwat that position of senior BJP leaders be maintained by new leadership if BJP comes to power, for their contribution to the party.

Joshi also told the RSS chief that senior party leaders be assigned with responsible positions in new government, they said.

Joshi, who is a regular visitor to RSS headquarters here, is believed to have shared his estimation of seats the BJP will win, sources added.