The Hindu : Venkaiah gets `positive feedback' on poll prospects

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 27, 2003

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Venkaiah gets `positive feedback' on poll prospects

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 26. The Bharatiya Janata Party president, Venkaiah Naidu, exuded confidence about the party's victory prospects in the coming polls after he reviewed the situation on the ground in the four States — Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — by talking to party leaders in these States at a teleconference at his residence this morning.

Immediately afterwards, Mr. Naidu met the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to brief him on the "positive feedback" he had received.

Mr. Naidu said he had talked to general secretaries (organisation) in several States and practically every important State BJP leader through the teleconference during which views and notes were exchanged. Plans were being made to fine-tune the campaign in the last few days before polling to plug the gaps. The details of the conference were conveyed to Mr. Vajpayee.

Talking to reporters later, Mr. Naidu said that even in Delhi and Rajasthan (where opinion pollsters had predicted a defeat for the BJP), the party was improving its position every day. It would be a good fight in these two States, he admitted, even while claiming victory. "We will win the elections in all the four States, though by different margins," he said.

The Congress, he said, was talking about corruption in the BJP, but the more it went on about this the more the people would remember its `past misdeeds'. "This will boomerang on the Congress," he predicted. He said that in the last leg of the campaign, which will come to an end on the evening of November 29, the BJP would continue to focus on good governance and development. The people were aware of the "double standard" adopted by the Congress in demanding the resignation of Union Ministers while shielding the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, despite several cases against him.

He said a BJP delegation would meet the Election Commission on Thursday to place before it complaints of misuse of officials and government machinery by the Congress in the four States ruled by it. He said he would appeal to the Commission to place adequate security forces in sensitive constituencies in these States, as he feared rigging by the Congress.

"With each passing day, the people are venting their grievances and anger against the `misrule' by the Congress." Even in Rajasthan, the recent public rallies of the BJP were met with "good response" from the people.

The party continued its tirade against Mr. Jogi and his son, Amit Jogi, even while it warned that this `badnami ka khel' (this game of giving BJP leaders a bad name) would hurt the Congress more.

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