Modi takes floor, Sushma absent at BJP conclave

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was the cynosure of attention at the closed-door BJP national executive at Surajkund. Intervening in a discussion on foreign direct investment in retail, Modi asked other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to go full hog on the issue by holding not less than 5,000 public meetings -- at least 10 in each Lok Sabha constituency -- to win over traders and farmers against foreign retailers to expose the Congress' hype on reforms to deflect attention from scams.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa did not attend the meet. Swaraj is under medical treatment but Yeddyurappa is upset even as new BJP Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar has began to cut his influence. Swaraj was admitted to the AIIMS on September 16.

Modi, along with other BJP CMs -- Prem Kumar Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) got a grand welcome at the executive.

BJP Member of Parliament from Purnea, Uday Singh also boycotted the conclave. Singh who is brother of Janata Dal-United MP NK Singh is openly revoling against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. He is to hold a programme on September 30 to express 'grief' at the lack of development despite the JD-U-BJP coalition government in power for seven years now.