Tuesday, Dec 02, 2003
Tuesday, Dec 02, 2003 |
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By Neena Vyas
The party president, Venkaiah Naidu, told reporters after the meeting that besides the Prime Minister and himself, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and the Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, were present. He said that later, when the winter session of Parliament starting on Tuesday was discussed, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, joined the group. Mr. Naidu briefed those present on the situation relating to the polling held today in four States. The 90-minute meeting started at noon and some feedback from party workers at polling stations where voting began at 8 a.m. was available. Mr. Naidu and the others were not willing to hazard any guess. Statements such as "we will win all the four States (barring Mizoram, the fifth State for which results are expected tomorrow)" were missing. Instead, a more realistic assessment was that the party could win two of the four States. "Since Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh all have Congress Governments, any win will be a gain for the party," Mr. Naidu said cautiously. Earlier, he had said that he was hopeful of the party making its maiden entry into the Mizoram Assembly. Although party leaders were not forthcoming on the post-poll scenario discussions, it seems that the BJP is preparing to face a more aggressive Congress in the event of the BJP not being able to throw it out in more than one State. Such an electoral verdict would mean that the BJP's oft-repeated theory of the anti-incumbency factor, which it has used to explain away its defeat in Himachal Pradesh, would prove hollow. However, if the party manages to bag at least two States, the scales would be evenly balanced. The Assembly elections would also be a test of Mr. Naidu's leadership. The BJP presidential poll is expected to be held immediately after the results are out. If the BJP is unable to annex even one of the four States from the Congress, there will be some voices in the party which will question Mr. Naidu's ability to lead the BJP. But, there are very few in the BJP who do not admit that Mr. Naidu has done a lot to reinvigorate the party workers and given a decent fight to the Congress. Party leaders were also not willing to say who their choice for the Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh would be in the event of the BJP winning the polls there. Since the Prime Minister will be leaving for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Nigeria on December 4, when the results are expected to start coming in, it is assumed that the nitty-gritty of government-formation in the States where the party might win was discussed. As for the winter session, Mr. Naidu is of the opinion that if the Opposition parties are to decide to stall the House, it would prove to be counter- productive for them. The BJP, as always, is ready to discuss all issues according to the rules of procedure. There are hints that on the Telgi fake stamp paper scandal, it would also try to put the Congress Governments in Maharashtra and Karnataka in the dock.
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