Date:14/09/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/09/14/stories/2002091404690100.htm

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Modi might not be CM after polls: Keshubhai

New Delhi Sept. 13. The BJP leader from Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel, today indicated that the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, might not be the ultimate choice for the post again, if the party was voted back to power in the Assembly polls.

``Modi is leading us into the elections, but I am clear that only the MLAs can decide the next Chief Minister,'' Mr. Patel, who was asked by the BJP high command to make way for Mr. Modi, told Star News.

The BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, had recently said Mr. Modi would be the Chief Minister of Gujarat after the Assembly elections.

Mr. Patel, whose differences with Mr. Modi are an open secret, said he would not travel with Mr. Modi's `gaurav yatra', but attend some meetings if necessary.

On his removal from the post of Chief Minister last year, following a series of electoral reverses for the BJP in the State, he said ``I resigned because I was asked to, but the manner in which I had to step down was unfair.'' — PTI