New Delhi, Feb 27: Targeting 300 seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, BJP is working on an aggressive multi-fold strategy to expand its base and spread awareness about the party's ideology on national issues besides making Vajpayee government listen to needs and grievances of party cadres. As part of the strategy, the BJP is chalking out plans to reach out to Northeast, South, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands through a membership-recruitment drive and using the Central government to alleviate problems of these regions. The party is getting a minister of state each appointed soon to specially look after the interests of Northeast, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar islands. "In the coming days, focus of BJP will be on South, Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar islands. In these areas, we find a lot of opportunity to grow, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu said in an interview to a news agency. He said the party would soon start recruiting youngsters in these areas at Lok Sabha constituency level so that they would start working in run up to the 2004 general elections.

The initiation of talks process by the Vajpayee government with insurgent groups NSCN (I-M) of Nagaland and Bodo Liberation Tigers of Assam is going to be used by BJP to get a foothold in the Northeast, Naidu said.

Bureau Report