Who are the BJP leaders envious of Modi?

All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup...

Wharton may have been forced to un-invite Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, but we're sure the man is not dismayed.

Modi is savouring his performance at the Bharatiya Janata Party's national executive and council meeting over the weekend in New Delhi.

Though the self-styled Gujarat no sher may not have been named the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, he flexed his muscles enough to ensure that his presence at the meeting overshadowed the party's agenda.

Modi's speech has badly stung the Congress.

24, Akbar Road, the Congress' national headquarters, is abuzz that a team of 'experts' is helping Modi with 'talking points' based on the Congress party's 'raw nerves' -- like the treatment meted out to the late Sitaram Kesri and the neglect of Pranab Mukherjee among others.

Loyal Congresswallahs want Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to find out who these 'experts' are.

Others wonder why Modi would need 'experts' to help him focus on facts that are already in the public domain.

Narendra Modi has rattled the chief ministers of two BJP-ruled states.

Spin doctors claiming to represent Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh say despite both state governments spending considerable sums of money on publicity, they have been unsuccessful in weaning the media's attention away from Modi.

As an assembly election nears in both states, their biggest problem seems to be the media's single-minded focus on Modi, leaving no room for their words of wisdom.

There is disquiet in the Congress too.

Congressmen, who claim to have an understanding of the economy, are upset with the finance minister for disregarding their suggestions.

Apparently, P Chidambaram had interacted with these Congress leaders in the run-up to the Union Budget.

Many of these leaders had made hectic preparations to impress the finance minister with their views.

None of their suggestions found place in the Budget.

These Congress netas want to know why the finance minister bothered calling the meeting when he had no intention of listening to them!

As we told you earlier, Surface Transport Minister C P Joshi wants to play a bigger role in his home state, Rajasthan, where an assembly election is due this year.

That means he has his eye on the chief minister's chair if the Congress party regains power, a distant prospect at this point of time.

Joshi, who served as chairman of the Congress party's scrutiny committee for the Gujarat assembly election, claims his move to over-rule the Gujarat Congress unit helped the party bag 60-odd seats despite the Narendra Modi wave.

And how is Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot countering the Joshi threat? He's busy convincing Congress leaders in the state that Joshi plans to bypass them as well.

JJyotiraditya Scindia is proving to be more than a match for his opponents.

Recently, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad sought to corner Scindia in the Rajya Sabha, saying the Union government was doing nothing to check the power tariff.

Scindia, the power minister, quickly replied that that would amount to interfering in a state subject.