The 12 members of the BJP parliamentary board are: Rajnath Singh, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and Ram Lal.

Apart from Modi himself and Vajpayee, who is unwell, other members who are expected to vote for the Gujarat chief minister are Arun Jaitley, Thawarchand Gehlot, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ram Lal, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari.

Karnataka leader Ananth Kumar is aligned with Advani but is not opposing Modi.

If Swaraj and Joshi too do not vote against Modi the lone dissenter will be Advani.

Among the BJP chief ministers, Goa CM Manohar Parrikar is said to be in the pro-Modi camp. Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, though not vocal in public, has not shown much enthusiasm in favour of Modi.

Going by his campaign posters and public speeches, Chouhan still seems to have a preference for Advani over Modi.Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has adopted an ambivalent attitude.

As far as the allies are concerned, Shiromani Akali Dal has already spoken in favour of Narendra Modi. Shiva Sena MP MP Sanjay Raut has also said his party will support any PM candidate chosen by BJP, indicating the Sena's support for Modi. -- TOI