NCP, BSP, LJP gearing up to take on Congress, BJP in Gujarat

Ahmedabad, June 17 (UNI) National parties like NCP, BSP and LJP, which have insignificant presence in Gujarat, have swung into action and are hosting meetings in different parts of state which will go to the polls towards the end of this year.

While BJP and Congress dominate the state politics and shared over 88 percent polled votes in the 2002 elections, these parties are readying themselves to cut the size of the two in the cpming elections.

NCP leaders like Praful Patel, who orginally hails from the state, had even attended last week's conference of Patels at Surat where the community had criticized the BJP for not giving them due importance.

Today, NCP also organised a meeting here at Ahmedabad, with senior leader Tariq Anwar addressing party workers and also making efforts to bring Muslims votes under its fold.

Senior leaders of BSP and LJP also plan to visit the state in coming weeks to mobilise their workers by holding regular meetings in the presence of their national leaders. LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan, who has set his eyes on 50 of the 182 seats in the state, is coming to Gandhinagar on June 20 to address a party convention.

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