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BJP national executive meet : Readies for polls

	September 15, 2008

The BJP has set the agenda for its election campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls along with polls for six State Assemblies. A political resolution adopted by the party on Saturday, Sept. 13, the second day of its national executive meet, covered major national issues including the nuclear deal, inflation, corruption, Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism. The resolution was moved by senior party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and seconded by Narendra Modi Chief Minister of Gujarat and Arun Shourie, former Minister in the NDA government.





Advani begins his poll campaign



Demonstrating that the party was in poll mode, the BJP launched its national campaign led by its Prime-Ministerial candidate and senior leader LK Advani from the IT city of Bangaloree. Advani will undertake a month -long tour of the country to mobilise support on the issues on which the party hopes to ride to power. The public rallies would be held in Ranchi, Somnath, Bhopal, Moradabad, Gauhati, Shillong, Kolkata, Varanasi and Hyderabad.



The national executive meet also saw Gujarat Chief Minister Modi making a detailed presentation to the committee during the intervention on the political resolution. His refrain was that the UPA government had been soft on terrorism besides being minority friendly. The repeal of POTA, the non-execution of Afzal Guru and the refusal to give assent to the state level anti organised crime laws, he said were evidence of this charge.



Similarly, he charged the UPA government with succumbing to its allies on the issue of Ram Setu while hurting the sentiments of the majority community. Likewise, he accused the government of seeking to appease the separatists while alienating the nationalists on the Amarnath yatra issue. The Gujarat chief minister also lashed out at the UPA government for its failure to tackle terrorism.





To play up Hindu cause



According to reports, the party National Executive meeting in Bangalore made it clear that the BJP will forcefully espouse the Hindu cause, Hindu symbols and Hindutva, saying that they symbolise nationalism.



Spelling out the party’s viewpoint, BJP president Rajnath Singh, inaugurating the National Executive meeting on Sept. 12 said: “I would like to ask why do controversies arise only on matters of our faith and belief ?” He demanded nationalisation of the entire route to the Amarnath cave shrine to ensure full protection to the pilgrims. Along with the demand on nationalization of the Amarnath shrine route, the BJP president asked for scrapping of Art. 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. He also demanded the creation of a separate, segregated homeland for Kashmiri pandits in the valley.



Indicating a setback for the BJP’s search for allies in Uttar Pradesh, party vice president Kalyan Singh and general secretary Vinay Katiyar did not attend the National Executive. Kalyan Singh had announced in advance that he was staying away from the meeting to avoid any embarrassment to the party on the question of future alliances.



In its desperate attempt to find new allies, the BJP has been approaching the Rashtriya Lok Dal and its leader Ajit Singh to join forces with the BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reportedly went all the way to Baghpat last month to hold a secret conclave with Ajit Singh. Both Kalyan Singh and Vinay Katiyar are upset because they feel that the party has almost unilaterally decided to go with Ajit Singh without bothering to consult them.





Shifting focus from nuclear deal to China policy



Favouring nuclear and political cooperation with the United States, notwithstanding the party’s opposition to the nuclear deal, the BJP appeared to be trying to divert the target of its attack from the US to China. This came through when party president Rajnath Singh said in his inaugural speech at the Bangalore meeting: “The approach of the government with regard to China has been very slack and weak. China has tried to create a border dispute even in undisputed areas such as Sikkim.”



Rajnath Singh: “The Indian Government appears to be incapable of offering tough resistance on this front.” He objected to what he called “the kind of construction activity that China is undertaking in the Himalayan region and Tibet.” He said it could adversely impact the environment, but the government has not been able to even raise this issue.



The BJP president said, ever since the UPA came to power, China has been continuously exerting pressure on India.



Relating the China factor to the nuclear deal, Rajnath Singh said that his party is opposing the deal for fear of China. He said: “There are many reasons for opposing the deal. For instance, the People’s Daily recently published an article saying that China does not intend to limit its nuclear power. According to the newspaper, China needs to conduct further nuclear tests. If this kind of thinking is taking place in China, and if in such a situation, the Government of India surrenders its right to conduct a nuclear test, then it could be dangerous for the country. Such a surrender will impact the autonomy of our decision-making ability.”



Attacking the UPA Government’s approach to the nuclear deal, the BJP president said : “Our testing options appear to have been eliminated and there is no legally binding agreement on assured nuclear fuel supply.”



He said by agreeing to terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, India has willfully “converted our unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing into a multi-lateral international commitment.”



BJP-AGP start talks on alliance



Senior leaders of the Asom Gana Parishad reportedly held talks with the BJP central leadership in New Delhi earlier this month to give a formal shape to the proposed alliance between the two parties for the Lok Sabha elections. A senior AGP leader later said: “Things are moving in the right direction and we hope to forge an alliance soon.”



But there are also reports of murmurs of protests from within the AGP and BJP on sharing the seats. Some leaders of both parties appear determined to hold on to certain prestigious Parliamentary seats. Senior AGP leader Kamala Kalita said: “The question of leaving the Guwahati Lok Sabha seat to the BJP does not arise at all. The AGP would contest from Guwahati.” Some BJP leaders on the other hand have been saying that they would not leave five of the total 14 seats in Assam.





Two BJP MPs, sick during trust vote, pass away



BJP MPs Kishan Lal Diler and D C Srikantappa, who had reported sick during the UPA Government’s trust vote on July 22, have died since then.



Diler, the BJP MP from Hathras in UP, was admitted to hospital in the capital after he complained of breathlessness on the day of the trust vote, but was still made to attend Parliament for voting. The MP died of a heart attach in Aligarh on September 3.



Another of the sick MPs, D C Srikantappa, who had won the traditional Congress bastion of Chikamangalur three times for the BJP, passed away on August 4 after a long fight with cancer.



Despite his illness, the BJP had tried hard to get him to vote. Following the BJP leadership’s instructions to its Chief Ministers to get ailing MPs to attend Parliament. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa telephoned Srikantappa and informed him about the party’s plans to airlift ailing MPs to Delhi for the trust vote. However, on doctors’ advice Srikantappa stayed put.





Two MPs disqualified



Former Samajwadi Party leader Jai Prakash has been disqualified from the Lok Sabha for violating his party’s whip during the July 22 trust vote. The order disqualifying him from membership of the House under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution was issued on Thursday, Sept. 11. Jai Prakash, elected from Mohanlalganj in Uttar Pradesh, was among the 26 members of the Lok Sabha facing disqualification for violation of the whip during the trust vote. The other cases are in different stages of hearing.



The Speaker has also disqualified former Congress member Kuldip Bishnoi, elected from Bhiwani in Haryana. His case was determined on the basis of a preliminary fact-finding report submitted by the Privileges Committee. The complaint against Bishnoi was that he had formed another party and made public speeches against the Congress.





BJP rebels in Gujarat form new party



The BJP rebels in Gujarat have announced the formation of the Maha Gujarat Party and released the outfit’s symbol and constitution. Former Home Minister Gordhan Zadafia has been chosen party president and Bhavnagar MLA Sunil Oza general secretary. The first convention of the party will be held in Ahmedabad on September 25 when other posts and the party structure will be announced.



The party leaders, most of whom have roots in the RSS, said they had the chance to contest the 2007 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket or as Independents. They also decided against going back to the BJP, they added. “We have sacrificed posts, power and prestige for the new party,” said Oza.



The Maha Gujarat Party has been touted as the first regional party in Gujarat where politics revolves around the Congress and the BJP. Oza said: “A regional party that puts the state’s interest on top is the need of the hour.”