Sushma Swaraj lights the lamp at the inauguration of the BJP’s national executive meeting in Panaji on Saturday, as party president Rajnath Singh looks on. (PTI)

New Delhi, June 8: Step aside, “Grandfather”, this is Modi’s hour.

A group of Narendra Modi supporters today gathered in front of L.K. Advani’s Delhi residence to protest his absence from the BJP’s national executive in Goa and put pressure on the 85-year-old veteran to accept their leader as the party’s face for 2014.

“Illness is the best excuse for people like Advani because no one is going to ask him for a medical certificate. He is a thorn in the path of our leader,” said Balram Gupta, the national treasurer of the Narendra Modi Army, an organisation formed about two years ago to push for Modi as a potential Prime Minister.

Advani, who is opposed to Modi’s projection, chose to stay away from the meet, the first time he has done so from such an event since the party was formed in 1980, because of a “stomach upset and weakness”.

The 50-strong group raised slogans that made no bones of their dislike for Advani. “Dadaji, maan bhi jao, Narendra Modi ko do kamaan, Advani ko samman (Grandfather, please say yes, give Narendra Modi the reins, Advani respect),” they chorused.

“Jan jan ki yahi pukaar, Narendra Modi agli baar (the public wants Modi for the next innings)” went another slogan.

Vishnu Gupta, another protester, said: “It is time that Advaniji steps aside and lets Modiji be Prime Minister. He should understand that the youth of the nation wants Modiji. Old people will remain ill. It’s okay that he couldn’t go to Goa, but he can bless Modiji from his home.”

Senior BJP leaders denied the party’s involvement in the protest. “These people have nothing to do with the BJP. Advaniji is the senior-most leader of the party,” spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters in Panaji.

The protesters, however, claimed links with the party. “The president of the organisation is Gwalior-based Tinu Jain, who is a district and state-level worker of the BJP. I, too, am part of the BJP,” Gupta claimed.

The Narendra Modi Army, which has a Facebook presence of about two lakh followers, describes itself as the BJP’s version of the Rajiv Gandhi Youth Brigade.

The group, which plans to soon release CDs with the single — “Modi lao re, desh bachao re” (bring Modi, save the nation) — says it would do “anything to get Modi as Prime Minister”.

Jain, the organisation’s Gwalior-based chief, said it holds meetings in different states and even visits villages to spread the spirit of NaMo (Narendra Modi). “We encourage the people to understand and analyse the work that Modiji has done in Gujarat as compared with other chief ministers. We try to make them understand that Modiji’s model is the only model for India to follow,” said the 36-year-old who runs a mobile phone distribution business.

Treasurer Balram Gupta, 41, a businessman who dabbles in real estate and owns several marble showrooms in the capital, claims to have started his career in 1991 as a BJP worker. Vice-president Suresh Gupta, 38, a contractor from Lucknow, said he was so inspired by Modi that he became part of the organisation.

Criticising Advani’s absence, one protester said it was not expected of a senior leader to behave in this “childish” manner.

“He should have been in Goa, announcing Modi’s candidature as Prime Minister. Instead, he is at home feigning illness,” said Ramesh Singh.

Ramesh said it appeared that the veteran had caught a bad case of “NaMonia”, punning on the abbreviation to make fun of Advani.