Narendra Modi today bade farewell to Gujarat and landed in Delhi to work on government formation over next three days before being sworn in Monday. “Dhanyawad Gujarat,” he said in his last tweet from Gujarat, posting a picture of himself with his mother. Before Modi’s arrival in Delhi, the BJP president held a meeting of general secretaries to take stock of preparations for Monday’s ceremony. The meeting decided to send invitations to all chief ministers. It also discussed the opposition of leaders from Tamil Nadu to the inclusion of the Sri Lankan president in the guest list. Party sources said MDMK leader Vaiko is likely to call on the BJP leadership Friday to express his objection. They said discussions on the cabinet will begin now that Modi is back. Rajnath Singh’s role as well as those of party elders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will be discussed, as will the size and nature of Modi’s cabinet, most importantly the members of the cabinet committee on security. “There is no clear indication yet whether Rajnath will join the government or continue to head the party. Neither the RSS nor Rajnath has indicated any preferences to party leaders so far,” said a party source, indicating the question is still undecided and will need to be resolved in the couple of days remaining before the swearing-in. While sources stressed the choices were Modi’s prerogative, they did not rule out the possibility of at least one RSS choice making it to the CCS — which includes the ministries of finance, defence, external affairs and home — so that, as one source put it, “the Sangh can be in the loop about the establishment’s strategies throughout the regime”. Sources indicated the party was undecided also about the roles of Advani and Joshi, including the possible Lok Sabha Speaker’s position for one of them. “If Joshi does not get any position in the government, Advani might not either,” predicted a source. What the sources were certain about was that Sushma Swaraj would get a “suitably honourable position” in the Modi cabinet, if not in one of the CCS ministries.
