New Delhi: The BJP’s national executive and national council meetings, beginning Wednesday, are expected to focus on the UPA government’s “corruption” and economic policy decisions and ways to improve the party’s prospects in Assembly polls slated in the next few months.
The meetings, at Surajkund in Haryana, come against the backdrop of the UPA government losing ally Trinamool Congress and a larger opposition unity on the issues of foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, hike in diesel prices and cap on subidised cooking gas cylinders.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari will open the national executive meeting today. It will be followed by two-day meeting of the national council. All top leaders of the party are expected to attend the meetings.
The party’s immediate priority is elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat by the year-end and in Karnataka early next year. The BJP is in power in all the three states.
BJP leaders said that the party was in a good position in Gujarat but faces a tight battle in Himachal Pradesh. They said the party’s prospects will be influenced by the choice of its candidates in the hill state.
BJP spokesman Tarun Vijay said the party’s national executive and national council meetings will highlight the “misgovernance” of the UPA government.
“We will consolidate our gains and give another push to people’s anger against the government,” Vijay said.
The BJP had sought to capitalise on the Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal block allocations by targeting the Prime Minister but the government’s decision to allow FDI in retail has pushed the issue away from headlines.
The BJP’s efforts to build a public agitation on the issue have also not succeeded so far despite it stalling proceedings of Parliament for days in succession during the Monsoon Session.
Party sources said the BJP is keen to gather more allies and expand the National Democratic Alliance as part of efforts to realise its goal of coming to power in the next General Elections.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav‘s “communal” jibe at the BJP for justifying his support to the Congress may also figure in discussions at the meetings. The BJP has already hit back at him, saying that several communal incidents have occurred in Uttar Pradesh under Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government of just six months.
The party’s national meet is also expected to review its preparations for the polls next year in Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
IANS
