NEW DELHI T: he former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has said the Bharatiya Janata Party should learn from the communists the art of getting re-elected.

He admitted that there was "something lacking" in his Government that led to its defeat in the last general election.

"It is true that the way the communist parties are moving ahead fast, we should not ape them but we should learn the art of getting renewal of mandate for our Government. It is a great test to get back in power," the BJP patriarch said in his valedictory address to the recent party national executive here.

The highlights of the address were published in the latest issue of BJP Today.

"We may go on repeating a hundred times that the NDA [National Democratic Alliance] Government performed well. There is no doubt we did well. Yet something was lacking. The people praised our work but did not renew the mandate to rule," the former Prime Minister was quoted as saying.

Interestingly, the excerpts of his speech were not released by the party to the media immediately on conclusion of its national executive on May 30.

Mr. Vajpayee said the party must resolve to retain power in the States it was ruling and should work out a strategy for it.

Pointing out that the BJP was running coalition governments in alliance with other parties in some States, he said "strengthening a coalition government without weakening our own self is a difficult task. We should ponder over it as well."

In an apparent reference to the exit of leaders such as Uma Bharti, Babulal Marandi and Madan Lal Khurana from the party, Mr. Vajpayee said: "Some people are leaving the party. Though they are not many yet they are leaving. We should introspect about it. We are ready to suffer any setback if there is no other way out, but losing someone from our ranks is a big loss to us."

The senior leader said there was an urgent need to get ready to move ahead with a sense of mutual affection and cooperation. "Whatever problems may arise we will face them collectively," he said. — PTI

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