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BJP sends observers to 150 Parliament constituencies

Neena Vyas

To identify local issues, short-list candidates

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has sent 50 party observers to 150 Lok Sabha constituencies to begin the process of identifying local issues and short-listing possible candidates.

The task has been taken up on a “war-footing” party vice-president in-charge the BJP’s “war-room” for the Lok Sabha election 2009, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said here on Saturday.

He said the 150 constituencies selected for this purpose were other than those where there are sitting BJP MPs. These are seats the party has won some time or another and wants to focus on to improve its prospects in the next Lok Sabha election.

By the time the party’s next national executive committee meeting is held in Jaipur starting May 30, reports of the central observers, who are on an average covering three Lok Sabha constituencies each, should be ready and with the central party leadership.

The party has already started conducting surveys to zero in on relevant issues.

The next Lok Sabha election will be the first after the delimitation process and this has made it all the more necessary to take a fresh look at the new constituencies with their new boundaries. There is a view among some senior party leaders that urban issues need to be brought into focus as the number of urban seats has increased after delimitation.

Mr. Naqvi said the party would adopt the 3`P’s criteria for selection of candidates – party, principles and personality – while the ruling United Progressive Alliance government’s failures will be highlighted through issues related to internal security, inflation, and administrative incompetence.

The centre-point of the BJP’s campaign, will, of course, be the leadership of its “dynamic, experienced and visionary” prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, who is to be presented as a “ray of hope” for the country facing “dark clouds” of inflation and other problems.

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