New Delhi, Mar 13: The Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to chase away Himachal and other blues with two birthday parties. Seeking new vigour, the party has planned a blitz of programmes to mark five years of the Vajpayee government. Vajpayee and his NDA government first took office on March 19, 1998, a reign that was cut short only to see them back in power a year later. It thus completes a cumulative five years and the BJP will celebrate through mass-contact programmes highlighting the government’s achievements.
Rounding off the event, to be marked as “Uplabdhi Parv”, will be another birthday party for the BJP, which turns 23 on April 6. In that period, programmes will be organised at the district and state levels with Central leaders to address public functions in different states.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party chief Venkaiah Naidu will hold the fort in the Capital, addressing the last public meeting in Delhi on April 6. Deputy Prime Minister L.K Advani will go to Mumbai, Murli Manohar Joshi to Chennai, Pramod Mahajan Jaipur, Sushma Swaraj Bhopal, Arun Jaitley Patna, V.K. Malhotra Lucknow and Muqtar Abbas Naqvi Goa, among others. Top BJP leaders met at Naidu’s residence here on Wednesday to chalk out the programme, apart from discussing strategy for the Assembly elections later this year and the agenda for the party’s National Executive to be held in Indore on April 4 and 5.
The party cannot afford to let go of any occasion to pep up after a depressing loss in Himachal Pradesh. Though the state does not add up to much in Lok Sabha calculations with only four seats, it has forced the party to stop and think. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has in the last few days hinted several times that the party needs to get its act together.
When BJP MPs gave Vajpayee a standing ovation on Tuesday for completing five years in office, the PM put a big question mark on the party’s state of poll preparedness: “People are ready to try us again, but are we ready?” He distanced government from party, warning them that development alone would not bring the BJP back to power. The BJP had to be seen as a cohesive force. “We did not lose out due to lack of governance in Himachal Pradesh. We lost due to infighting in the party,” BJP leader Muqtar Abbas Naqvi admitted. Other state units like Uttar Pradesh have been cause for worry too in recent days.
This will be a priority area to be discussed at the party’s national executive. The party plans a constitutional amendment to tighten discipline in state units.
After Himachal, the November elections in four states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan - have become crucial for the party as these will be the last electoral test before Lok Sabha elections next year. The party is focusing on Madhya Pradesh for now, troubled by a Congress chief minister who is threatening to beat them at their own game. With Digvijay Singh attempting to usurp the cow slaughter issue, the BJP is firm on getting back its turf. BJP MLAs from Madhya Pradesh and MPs have also highlighted the issue of alleged inclusion of bogus voters in Madhya Pradesh voter lists.
The party now plans a high-profile public debut for new MP BJP chief Uma Bharati at a rally in Bhopal on March 15, which will be attended by L.K. Advani.
Of the other states, the BJP believes the Congress’ internal problems have more or less ensured that Rajasthan is won, while Delhi seems a tough nut to crack. “Last time we lost Madhya Pradesh due to overconfidence,” Naqvi said. The party is not taking chances this time.