Modi is BJP face for '14 polls

• Named as the party Campaign Committee Chairman
• Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley upset with the development
• Vajpayee-Advani era in the BJP ends
• Modi takes on all Congress stalwarts

Anita Saluja New Delhi: Curtains came down on Vajpayee-Advani era in the BJP, as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi moved on to the party centre stage. Deciding to bite the Modi bullet, BJP President Rajnath Singh on Sunday named him as the party Campaign Committee Chairman, despite objections raised by senior leadership led by BJP patriarch L K Advani, who chose not to attend the Goa conclave.

There were mixed feelings in the party after Modi was declared as the party's campaign committee head. While it was a festive moment for the cadres, the senior leadership of the party, including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, were upset with the development, with the former even choosing not to attend the workers' meeting. Modi, however, tweeted that he had the blessings of Advani.

A visibly-elated Modi lost no time to take-on the UPA government at the Centre, taking swipes at the policy paralysis of Prime Minister and the authority wielded by NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. He wondered where was the need to appoint Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, who also happens to be the Chairperson of the Planning Commission, when it is the NAC headed by "Madam," which takes all decisions. Poking fun at the Prime Minister, Modi said that he had no answer when he confronted him at the Chief Ministers Conference on Internal Security and told him that there was a person in the Planning Commission, who is colluding with the Naxals.

Modi, in his usual style did not spare the former External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who read out the speech of Portuguese Foreign Minister, taking it to be his own, at the United Nations. Similarly, he wondered why Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal was so keen in enacting a law on the IPL spot-fixing when it is the subject of the States and not of the Centre. He said that the BJP was not in favour of grabbing power but they have to relieve the people of the corruption-ridden government at the Centre. The people have lost trust in the Congress and the faith of the youngsters and the women have to be restored in the country.

"We must go forward with the dream of a Congress-Mukt Bharat," he stated, countering the Bharat Nirman slogan of the UPA. Congress Bhagao is the new mantra he gave to the party workers, which will pave the way to usher in development, generate employment and provide security for women, as the Congress is at the root of the malaise afflicting the country today. In a dig at Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, who compared power to poison, Modi said power is required to take decisions and to bring about change. During Vajpayee's tenure, there was trust � all felt the country was growing. There was positive feeling. From 2004, it has been a sinking feeling, he remarked.

Goa, apparently, has turned out to be lucky for the Gujarat Chief Minister. It was here in 2002 that Advani overruled the decision of Vajpayee, who wanted Modi to resign after the communal riots in Gujarat. Now, again, it is in Goa that he has been named as the BJP Campaign Committee Chairman. Modi hoped that he will deliver in the same manner as was the case in Gujarat, where he managed to bring successive victories to the party. With Modi being declared as the BJP face, the Congress is unlikely to name Rahul Gandhi or anyone else as their future Prime Minister. It would prefer to wait till the outcome of the 2014 elections, rather than pitting Rahul Gandhi against Modi.