Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was made the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll in-charge, on Sunday, for Maharashtra apart from his own state, making him a key figure in the party's poll preparations in western India.
The tiny state of Goa as well as the union territories of Daman Diu and Nagar Haveli have also been brought under him.
The party has decided to opt for a decentralised model of election management unlike the last time, in its mission to
crown L K Advani the Prime Minister.
Announcing the names of Lok Sabha in-charges at the concluding ceremony of the National Council in Nagpur, Advani said party leaders Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu will not be in the poll fray, while all other senior leaders will be
performing their respective duties along with contesting.
Naidu has been given responsibilities of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands and Lakshwadweep while Jaitley would be in-charge
of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.
Advani announced that Sushma Swaraj would contest from Madhya Pradesh and would also take care of the state along with Ananth Kumar. She will have the additional charge of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Kumar will have the additional charge of his home state Karnataka as well.
Shanta Kumar would look after Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana. He would be helped by Bhagat Singh Koshiyari in this.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh full timer V Satish will be looking after Orissa while Soudan Singh will have Rajasthan's charge. Vasundhara Raje and V K Malhotra have been asked to assist in the poll arrangements of Rajasthan and Delhi respectively.
SS Ahluwalia, Harendra Pratap and Chandrasekhar have been deputed for Assam, North East and Sikkim. Ahluwalia will have the additional charge of West Bengal.