Thrissur: Bharatiya Janata Party national vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the BJP would launch a two-week nation-wide agitation in July in protest against surging prices of essential commodities and the reported threat to food security.

Addressing a State-level leadership meet here on Sunday, Mr. Naidu said a three-member committee was consulting the State units in order to work out an action plan.

The committee comprised Mr. Naidu and the former Union Ministers Ananth Kumar and Arun Jaitley.

Mr. Naidu said the BJP did not propose to change its policy in order to succeed in Kerala.

"The people's perception of the party should change. There is no question of appeasement of minorities. We believe in justice to all. The people need to be convinced that the BJP can win and deliver. The BJP should provide an alternative to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), which have hoodwinked the people of Kerala," the BJP national vice-president said.

He said the Left parties only "barked and did not bite," when it came to grave issues such as corruption, the reported threat to food security and rise in the prices of essential commodities. "Why don't the Left parties go ahead and withdraw the support to the UPA Government," Mr. Naidu asked.

He alleged that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) wasted no opportunity to appease the minority communities. "Take the case of the ban on the English film The Da Vinci Code in many States. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) has not demanded a ban. Yet, with an eye on Christian votes, the UPA Government is keen on getting the film banned."

Later, speaking to the media, Mr. Naidu quashed reports of infighting in the State unit of the BJP and condemned posters pasted outside the venue, in the name of an outfit called `Save BJP Forum', that called for a change of leadership. "Blame it on media. There are no problems in the party. As regards the posters, I don't want to respond to people who cannot reveal their identity."

He said the party high command was happy with the performance of the State leadership. "There is no plan to change the leadership. The leaders are not responsible for the defeat of the party in the 12th Assembly elections. They did their best. Leaders cannot engineer the party's victory or defeat. Moreover, the BJP does not believe in personality cult."

BJP State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said a committee comprising K.P. Sreesan, P.D. Purushothaman and M.P. Raman would study the reported anti-party activities in some quarters and the reasons for the defeat in the Assembly elections, and submit a report to the leadership within a month.

BJP leaders L. Ganesan, K. Raman Pillai, O. Rajagopal, C.K. Padmanabhan and B.K. Sekhar were among those present on the occasion.

The two-day leadership meet concluded here on Sunday evening.

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