Kaun banega CM? Gadkari, Fadnavis line up to meet RSS chief

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and discussed "important" issues, but said there was no talk on politics in Maharashtra where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in the process of government formation.

The meeting took place a day after Maharashtra BJP President Devendra Fadnavis, said to be a frontrunner for the chief ministership called on the RSS chief.

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The Lok Sabha MP from Nagpur came to Sangh building in Mahal in eastern part of the city on a two-wheeler.

"I met sarsarsanghchalaji (Bhagwat). It was a routine visit during Diwali like every year. Yes we discussed many important issues barring the Maharashtra politics and the chief ministership," Gadkari told reporters after emerging out of the building.

The senior BJP leader's meeting with Bhagwat comes a day ahead of the high tea being hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Sunday for National Democratic Alliance MPs.

Bhagwat was out of Nagpur when Gadkari arrived from Delhi early this week to a grand reception from BJP workers.

Post October 19 election result, which pitchforked the BJP to the top of the heap with 123 assembly seats (one of them won by an ally) in the 288-member House, a section of the new MLAs pushed Gadkari's name for chief ministership.

Three of them went one step further and offered to quit their seats so that the Union transport minister could get elected to the assembly from one of them.

Though initially reluctant to return to state politics, Gadkari added fuel to the speculation of being in the race for the top job when he said he was willing to take any responsibility entrusted by the party central leadership.

On Thursday, the 58-year-old former BJP president, who received Fadnavis at his residence on Diwali day, sought to clear the air on the issue, saying he was "happy" in Delhi.

Fadnavis, who left for Mumbai Saturday morning, met Bhagwat on Friday night. The BJP MLAs are likely to meet in the next couple of days to elect their leader.

Both Gadkari and Fadnavis, who also hails from Nagpur, are considered close to RSS, which is headquartered in the city.

Image: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari visits RSS chief. Photograph: ANI/Twitter