The Hindu : BJP national executive to analyse poll results

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 12, 2002

National

National

BJP national executive to analyse poll results

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 11. The BJP's next national executive committee meeting will be held here on December 22 and 23 where the focus will be on analysing the results of the Gujarat Assembly polls.

The results could lead to reorientation in the BJP's strategy for the ensuing polls — in Himachal Pradesh early next year, and in several other States, including Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by the year-end.

The party is already gearing itself for the polls next year which will become a sort of curtain-raiser for the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Recently, the party demanded that the collection of interest on loans taken by farmers in drought-hit regions be, not just postponed by a year, but waived for this year.

The committee, which invited suggestions on the Kelkar Committee report, has received 2,000 suggestions from partymen, the BJP spokesperson, V.K. Malhotra, said today. It seems there were a number of suggestions for more sops, certainly not a curtailment of tax benefits already available.

Some of them were: tax benefits for senior citizens, women and scheduled castes and tribes must continue, there should be no further tax burden on the middle class and if possible additional tax reliefs must be given and the tax benefits for housing loans must continue. The Finance Minister has also recently hinted that he would address another concern: interest rates for pensioners and older people for whom a higher rate of interest may be announced in the next budget.

Mr. Malhotra said that the BJP's Rajnath Singh committee, which studied the Kelkar Committee report, would submit its report to the national executive where the matter would be discussed.

On the Gujarat campaign, the party was on the defensive when answering questions on the party slogan that a vote against the BJP would be a vote for Musharraf and Pakistan. Did that also mean that a vote for the BJP's allies (the Samata and the Bahujan Samaj Party are contesting against the BJP) would also be a vote for Pakistan? Mr. Malhotra preferred not to answer the question. And did it mean that in 14 Congress-ruled States, the people were all anti-national and pro-Pakistan as they had voted for the Congress and not for the BJP? Mr. Malhotra's answer was that the situation there was different from that in Gujarat.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National