Modi may attend Mumbai meet after all

The sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have rejected the speculation that the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will not attend the BJP national executive in Mumbai on 24 and 25 May.

There have been news reports that the Gujarat chief minister will skip the two-day meet in Mumbai. Modi had skipped a similar meet held in September last year. It was speculated that Modi did not attend the September meet because he had reservations over the inclusion of Sanjay Joshi as the in-charge for the Uttar Pradesh election.

The two day meet holds significance, as it will decide the new president of the party and will also lay the roadmap for the Gujarat assembly election that are due later this year. Modi's equation with the party president Nitin Gadkari has also deteriorated with time. Joshi's inclusion was seen as one of the reasons for their present state of relationship.

However, the party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said that it was too early to comment on whether Modi would attend the meet. 'It is speculative at this stage to say whether the Gujarat chief minister would attend the national executive meet in Mumbai or not. Whatever be the case, we will come to know on 24 May,' said Sitharaman.