The Hindu : BJP stands by old agenda but won't thrust it on allies

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 19, 2003

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BJP stands by old agenda but won't thrust it on allies

By Neena Vyas

Photo: A.M. Faruqui

In the presence of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the BJP president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, lights a lamp to inaugurate the party's national executive meeting in Raipur on Friday.

RAIPUR JULY 18. The Bharatiya Janata Party today declared that it was ready to re-assert its old agenda — Ayodhya, a uniform civil code and scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution conferring a special status on Jammu and Kashmir — but would "not thrust it" it on its political allies.

The party's three-day national executive committee meeting got under way here today with the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, addressing the 125-member strong body.

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, arrived here this morning — he was received by the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, and he will be here till tomorrow evening — as did the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, and a number of Cabinet Ministers and party leaders.

Mr. Naidu's 10-page address was clear indication that the party wants to give a strong message to its restive cadre — as well as the cadre of other Sangh Parivar organisations — that it had not abandoned its Hindutva ideology, which, he said, "cannot be projected as a narrow religious concept". At the same time, he asked the party members to "remember" that the BJP was leading a coalition Government at the Centre, and "there is no question of thrusting our agenda on any of our partners".

The focus of attention at the committee meeting will be a strategy for "Operation 2003" — the general secretary, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said the "BJP was determined to wrest at least four of the five States going to the polls" — and "Mission 2004" for which the aim is to get "300 Lok Sabha seats on our own and a two-thirds majority with allies".

The main political enemy being the Congress, as a rival for power at the Centre and as the ruling party in four of the five States going to the polls this year, Mr. Naidu trained his attack on its "new-found fondness" for coalition politics. He also focussed on the "area of leadership" juxtaposing "Atalji" against Sonia Gandhi, Congress president. "We have a leader in Atalji who is not only the leader of the BJP, not only the leader of the National Democratic Alliance, but also of the entire nation. On the other hand, all that the Congress can do is take shelter under the Dynasty."

Later, at a press conference, Mr. Naqvi said: "Sonia Gandhi's `foreign' origin was not an election issue, but it will come up as it is related to national interest issues." He elaborated in response to a question: "A person born here (is mitti main paida huye) is naturally more sensitive to national interests." Still later, the Union Law Minister, Arun Jaitley, in a damage control exercise, said the issue of a foreign-born person occupying high constitutional office was a "political and constitutional issue" and the "ability to lead the country" should be the principal concern. "The party does not believe that the issue of foreign origin is related to any perceived security threat," he added.

Mr. Naidu attacked the Congress for falling back on the "worn out bogey of communalism" at its Shimla conclave. He challenged it for a debate on secularism and development, maintaining that 47 years of Congress rule was a "misrule" and the five years of NDA Government were development-oriented.

The BJP is keen on getting the stalled Women's Reservation Bill moving and could formally make a new proposal on increasing the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats by creating "double-member constituencies" to accommodate more women after a detailed discussion expected tomorrow. It seems that a law on population may be forthcoming as Mr. Naidu "demanded" it and Mr. Advani had a few days ago talked of this.

Against the backdrop of the Prime Minister's "commitment" to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh that the party would consider legislation on Ayodhya, a new resolution on the subject is also being considered.

The view among party leaders is that while asserting that the party is open to resolving the Ayodhya dispute through legislation in Parliament, it may sound a note of caution that this will not be possible unless it has a clear majority of its own in Parliament.

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