The BJP patriarch is of the view that making Modi the prime ministerial candidate will put issues like price rise and corruption- on which the BJP has attacked the Congress- on the backburner and make the controversial leader the issue, party sources said.
The sources indicated that the BJP leaders want a unanimous decision on Modi at the parliamentary board meeting and hence had intensified efforts to win over dissenting voices.
Joshi was asked to return to the capital by a special flight from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh where he had gone to attend a party programme.
Though he is not convinced about Modi being projected as the PM candidate, he has conveyed to the party that he will abide by the majority view in the parliamentary board, the sources said.
Modi got a shot in the arm on Friday when NDA allies Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal extended their support to him for the PM candidate post.
Modi flew to Delhi from Gandhinagar late afternoon to attend the meeting.