The Hindu : Sonia's plans will be a non-starter: Naidu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 29, 2003

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Sonia's plans will be a non-starter: Naidu

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD Dec. 28. Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign in the Lok Sabha elections would be based on the positive slogan of "development," the party president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's plan for forging alliances with like-minded parties was going to be a non-starter.

The Congress may be ready for such alliances but the question was whether other Opposition parties were willing. "Such a partnership will never take off," he said, while addressing a convention of party leaders from Telangana and Rayalaseema regions here today.

Mr. Naidu said the BJP would not indulge in `negative propaganda' but `highlight the fact' that India was `on the move' and invite people to support `this movement'. Development would be the party's mantra and the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, its mascot. He said people wanted Mr. Vajpayee back in the saddle.

He dismissed Ms. Gandhi's vow that her party would tackle unemployment as the Congress itself would remain `unemployed' for five more years. When in Government, the party had done nothing to create more employment opportunities, he said.

The BJP's national executive at Hyderabad on January 11 and 12 would give a final shape to the blueprint that the party was preparing for its election campaign. He said the party meeting would be a four-day affair with January 10 earmarked for a meeting with the national general secretaries and January 13 for a meeting with presidents and general secretaries of all the State units.

Using the tennis jargon, he said it was "advantage BJP" after the Assembly elections. He found it strange that Ms. Gandhi should question the need for early Lok Sabha polls after having mooted it when pre-poll surveys in three Northern States predicted her party's victory.

He advised his party cadre not to bother about the timing of the Lok Sabha elections which had become a matter of speculation in the media in Andhra Pradesh.

Whether the elections were held jointly with the Assembly or not, the party workers must concentrate on winning 300 seats in the Lok Sabha and extend support in Andhra Pradesh to the Telugu Desam Party, he said.

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