The Hindu : National : BJP meet to draw road map for election year

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Friday, May 30, 2008
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National

BJP meet to draw road map for election year

Neena Vyas

Party has started working on organising
booth-level committees
Economic resolution to focus on inflation, crisis in agriculture

NEW DELHI: A series of Assembly elections before the final match — 2009 Lok Sabha polls — will be the focus of the BJP national executive committee meeting beginning here on Sunday.

Buoyed by the victory in Karnataka, the party leadership has already signalled that the BJP wants to add to its strength, before the big contest next year, by wooing more allies into the National Democratic Alliance fold.

While the two-day meeting takes place at a time the BJP feels it is well poised to take on the challenge of the Lok Sabha elections, the party is also saddled with problems in several State units.

Rajasthan is under siege by Gujjars, who are demanding that the BJP government fulfil the election promise that they would be given Scheduled Caste status. The Gujjars have openly demanded that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje be sacked.

In Bihar, dissidents are demanding the ouster of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi; and in Uttarakhand, a group headed by the former Chief Minister Hoshiari is gunning for present incumbent B.C. Khanduri.

Resolutions

Three resolutions are being planned at the national executive, vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here. The main political resolution would draw the road map for the Lok Sabha polls. Each State unit would be asked to present a report on its preparedness for the coming election year.

The BJP has started work on organising booth-level committees, which, according to its leaders, helped the party win the Assembly polls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and now in Karnataka.

Efforts are also being made to smooth over ties with the ally, the Janata Dal (United), with which the BJP could not arrive at a seat-sharing arrangement in Karnataka. The party leadership has already indicated that it will pay attention, after the executive meeting, to quieten dissidence in Bihar, where the BJP is sharing power with the JD(U).

The economic resolution will focus on inflation, the crisis in agriculture and the problems of price rise, which have affected the aam aadmi, the constituency the Congress tried to hijack in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP will also present its views on recent developments in Pakistan and Nepal. Mr. Naqvi charged the Manmohan Singh government with neglecting this area, leading to erosion of India’s influence in the region and the world.

Party president Rajnath Singh will deliver the key address on the opening day, while Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani will wind up the event with his remarks on Monday.

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