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BJP meet to focus on “victory 2009”

Neena Vyas

Party constitution to be amended

NEW DELHI: A three-day conclave of the Bharatiya Janata Party, starting on Sunday, will focus on strengthening it at every polling booth-level with an eye on the next Lok Sabha elections. The camp has been named “Vijay Sankalp Parisar,” where delegates will take a vow to bring victory to the party.

A one-day national executive committee meeting here on Sunday will be followed by a two-day national council session at the Ram Lila maidan. Around 4,000 delegates from across the country are expected to take part.

The party hopes to amend its constitution to allow 33 per cent of all posts to be reserved for women, from the ‘mandal’ to the State and national levels. The changes to be made were detailed in a report by party leader Sushma Swaraj and which was approved at the national executive committee meeting in Bhopal a few months ago.

Briefing journalists, party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that apart from a political resolution, expected to describe the United Progressive Alliance government as a failure, the party was keen to bring into focus agriculture and the problems faced by farmers.

A detailed resolution on agriculture was being prepared by Venkaiah Naidu, while the political resolution was being drafted by Arun Jaitley.

The BJP has for some time demanded crop insurance to guarantee a minimum return for small and marginal farmers, lower interest on credit, higher prices for farm produce through increased minimum support price, and a deal that will take farmers out of the vicious circle of indebtedness and suicide.

Through the amendment on positions for women, the party will make an all-out effort to woo the woman voter.

An ongoing programme that the leadership hopes will give an impetus to the council meeting is the effort to ensure the BJP’s presence at every single polling booth in the country.

All the Chief Ministers belonging to the party will give an overview of the political situation in their States. Of special significance will be the reports of the States due to go to the polls between now and the Lok Sabha elections. Ms. Swaraj is expected to speak about the National Democratic Alliance, which the BJP leads.

Address by Rajnath

The three-day meeting will open with a presidential address by Rajnath Singh and conclude with a speech by L.K. Advani, who has been declared the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the next Lok Sabha polls.

This will be the last council session before the elections, and the leadership hopes to build the enthusiasm of the party. The Ram Setu issue is expected to be discussed at length, and it is expected to sufficiently arouse the passion of the party workers.

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