Jharkhand developments to overshadow BJP conclave

Dehra Dun, Sep 6 (UNI) Political developments in Jharkhand are likely to overshadow the three-day conclave of the Bharatiya Janata Party starting here tomorrow where the party will assess among other things its prospects in the coming elections to assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Manipur and municipal corporation in Delhi.

Besides elections, other issues likely to be deliberated between September 7 and 9 by the top BJP leadership at the National Executive are the Vande Mataram controversy, price rise, farmers' suicides and the OBC reservation in educational institutions.

It will also highlight the shortcomings of the UPA government in handling the secessionist and terrorist activities particularly emergence of Left oriented extremism in many parts of the country, deploring the internal security scenario.

Prior to the meeting beginning tomorrow afternoon, the National Office-bearers of the party would meet in the morning to fix agenda for discussion.

Party President Rajnath Singh will set the ball rolling for the Executive with his presidential address in which he is likely to deal with the overall political situation in the nation and the states.

Sources said the President would specifically outline the party's stakes in the states going to polls in the coming months and exhort the cadre to take up the challenge head-on to bring back BJP rule in at least UP and Uttaranchal which at one time was ruled by Mr Singh himself.

Another burning issue which even had its reverberations in the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament is "Vande Mataram" on which the party is visualising to launch a nation-wide stir to rake up national sentiments of the people.

Soon after the Presidential Address, the meeting would begin stock-taking reports from various state units. States going to polls would get priority over others in which unit presidents would detail the preparations being made by the party. Deliberations would continue next day till afternoon. The leaders would then attend the rally which is likely to be attended by party patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani among others, sources said.

The party is likely to come out with a political resolution dealing with internal security issue, terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, and insurgency in North-eastern states, besides threat of Maoism in many regions.

September 9, last day of the meeting, has been spared for speeches of Mr Advani and Mr Vajpayee who would be providing 'Marg Darshan' to the rank and file of the party. Sources said they were likely to prepare the cadre for the coming elections. In Uttaranchal, sources said, the party would be winning the elections hands down, while in UP it is likely to improve its tally of 88 MLAs in last election. In Punjab, along with the Shiromani Akali Dal, its old ally, it plans to oust Congress Government. However party leaders concede the party does not have heavy stakes in Manipur.

In Delhi, where elections would be held for Delhi Municipal Corporation, the party is very hopeful that it would establish its supremacy in view of the flak the Congress was receiving from the people for continuing demolition drive in the Capital.

A meeting of BJP top leaders at the residence of Mr Vajpayee yesterday finalised the resolutions to be adopted at the Executive.

They decided that there would be one resolution on agricultural policy, food crisis, price situation to highlight the failure of the UPA government to contain prices, inflation at a time when farmers were committing suicides, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said.

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