The new Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh has hit the ground running, determined to overcome the charges of lassitude that marked his previous stint in that office.

On Sunday, he had an extended meeting with Narendra Modi, arguably the most important leader of the party today, and the person with whom Mr Singh will have to work very closely in the period leading up to the next general elections.

The imperious Mr Modi is not the easiest of persons to work with, yet the vibes coming from their meeting augur well for the party.

Undoubtedly, the theme of the discussion would have been Mr Modi’s move to national level politics, to start with as the head of the national campaign committee and a member of the BJP’s Parliamentary Board, and later, perhaps, as the declared prime ministerial candidate of the party.

On Monday, Mr Singh was in Nagpur to attend a rally along with ousted party chief Nitin Gadkari.

The programme may well have been made with a view of conferring with the bigwigs of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh whose headquarters are in Nagpur. The RSS had played a central role in Mr Singh’s elevation to the office of president in 2005 and though he was the second choice this time around, he is very much, the outfit’s man and will ensure that his activities hew close to the Sangh’s desires.

Beyond these strategic meetings and talks, Mr Singh has also pitched in to do some firefighting with regard to the BJP government in Karnataka. His Monday meeting with Jagdish Shettar was aimed at displaying solidarity with the embattled Karnataka chief minister. Since the elections to the state assembly are around the corner, the government is unlikely to be toppled, but the party does have longer term concerns over the defection of B.S. Yeddyurappa.

Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2013. MTNPL. All rights reserved.