The delay in announcement is on account of the party still deciding who will explain the situation to Murli Manohar Joshi.

It’s final now. Besides Gujarat, Narendra Modi will find his second political home in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, a city that according to mythology has the blessings of Lord Shiva. But those waiting for an official announcement will have to wait a bit longer.

Why is there no announcement if the issue has been sealed by the party and the RSS? The answer lies in another question and two other reasons. Before a decision on Varanasi is made official, somebody in authority needs to tell an 80-year-old veteran and sitting party MP that he needs to vacate that seat for the greater good of the BJP, which ironically includes Joshi’s personal prospects too. Some believe Joshi could actually be in a difficult position should he contest from this city.

But who should do the honours of telling Joshi of the emerging harsh reality, that is the key question doing the rounds of the higher echelons of the BJP. It’s a matter of propriety and in-house procedures that a senior leader such as Joshi deserves, insiders feel.

Sources told Firstpost that Joshi thinks that if he has to vacate Varanasi and shift elsewhere then it is Modi who should speak to him. Request him, so to say, to please make the seat available for him. That would open Joshi for a heart-to-heart talk with Modi, possibly get a clear assurance of what could be in store for him for the future. Moving to Kanpur is perhaps not just the only thing that may be on his mind, given the fact that he gave a public vent of his hurt at a recent meeting of his admirers in Varanasi.

Modi on his part, as an informed source said, is not inclined, at least not yet, to oblige Joshi the way he desires. Modi is of the view that it is not he who is pressing to contest from Varanasi but it is the party which is asking him to make this seat in the most populous and politically critical state his second constituency. He is seeking no personal favours and whatever was being decided was guided by the strategic electoral requirements, he believes.

The onus is therefore on BJP president Rajnath Singh to use his good offices and personal influence to persuade Joshi not to insist on this seat.

Joshi's insistence on the seat has not gone down well with the party rank and file. A number of them are talking of how difficult it had been for the workers to manage his last election. He won with around 20000 votes following a counter polarisation in face an aggressive pitch by BSP’s Mukhtar Ansari. In the last Assembly election, Joshi vetoed against the possible nomination of Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh from one of Assembly seats in Varanasi parliamentary constituency. Local leaders talk at length about his “intellectual arrogance” and his belated moral positioning of old man’s anguish.

For now the clarity of Modi opting for Varanasi has made BJP leaders of the region are sound more cheerful and more buoyant than ever. The script as decided by the senior leaders is that as Modi’s candidature is to be announced from Varanasi, Murli Manohar Joshi will have no other option but to move to Kanpur if he is keen on contesting the 16th Lok Sabha polls. Kalraj Mishra who had made his claims for Kanpur will get Shravasti.

Rajnath Singh is certain to shift from Ghaziabad to Lucknow but announcement of his candidature from there would be made alongside Modi’s. Lalji Tandon’s resistance is of little value. Incidentally, it was Rajnath Singh who had made last minute intervention as party president to secure a seat for Tandon from Lucknow. But in last five years his contribution either in Lok Sabha or in the constituency has been negligible.

Lucknow will go to the polls on April 30, along with Raebareli, Amethi and Varanasi will go to the polls in last phase on May 12. As such there is no immediate hurry to announce Modi and Rajnath’s candidature on Saturday. Gujarat goes to polls on April 30. Since Modi will be contesting from both UP and Gujarat, it’s only prudent that announcement of both the seats are made together in one go. As such this will happen any time after Holi.

Sources told Firstpost that Modi told his colleagues in Thursday’s Central Election Committee meeting that it was time that they discussed the UP list. He then gave a specific command that the UP list must be discussed in Saturday’s meeting of party top brass and all senior leaders concerned with Uttar Pradesh should sit long hours till late for the next two days , resolve issues, reach out to persons and come up with specific names.

There have been a series of informal meetings since Thursday night, after the Central Election Committee meeting was over. The first round was held at Gujarat Bhawan where Modi was staying. Modi’s Man Friday for UP Amit Shah and a host of other senior leaders were present. These leaders met again on Friday morning at Rajnath Singh’s residence to discuss the probable names with him. Amit Shah, RSS pointsman and BJP general secretary Ramlal, general secretary (organisation) for UP party unit Rakesh Jain, state party chief Laxmikant Bajpai and others. Then there were other meetings during day and at night at various places with a number of senior leaders constantly connected through phones. Modi was back in Delhi on Friday evening

The seats that will come for discussion and clearance on Saturday could be those of Western Uttar Pradesh that goes to polls on April 10 and of leaders like Varun Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi, Yogi Adityanath, Santosh Gangwar, in whose candidature and choice of constituencies there is no doubt left.

Just as a call on Modi’s ticket from Uttar Pradesh was taken, there was also speculation on whether Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley will at long last take a plunge in direct electoral politics, and if so from where. Will it be Amritsar, New Delhi or somewhere else? No one is putting any money on answering these questions yet but it is being talked about. It was only recently that the party had clarified that leaders such as Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and some others will not fight elections and devote their time managing the elections for the party without worrying about their personal fortunes.

While besides parts of UP, the Rajasthan list would also be taken up by the Central Election Committee, ticket distribution for Delhi should make the headlines for BJP. How the party takes a call on seven Delhi seats. The party leadership is considering names of some outsiders like Mahesh Girri and Manoj Tiwari (East Delhi), MJ Akbar (North East Delhi), Navjot Singh Sidhu (West Delhi), Subramanium Swamy (New Delhi) to pep up its campaign in the national capital.

But Saturday’s BJP central election committee meeting has been spiced up by Sushma Swaraj's tweet: “I want to make it absolutely clear that B Sreeramulu (of Bellary in Karnataka) has been admitted in the party despite my stiff opposition.” Sreeramulu on his part continues to maintain that Sushma continues to be like a mother to him. "She is my mother and will remain my mother until my death. In a family, there is sometimes anger. The seniors may become angry. We should request them - and I will go and request her, if I have done any wrong, please forgive me."