Muslims, Christians still not with BJP: admits Naidu By Syed Zarir Hussain, Indo-Asian News Service
Guwahati, Sep 21 (IANS) India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday admitted it had failed to fully enlist the support of minority Muslims and Christians. "We have only reached halfway during the past four years of our rule in India and we must admit the minority communities like Muslims and Christians are still not with us in full strength," BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu said in Assam's principal city. He was addressing the inaugural session of a two-day conclave of party workers from the predominantly Christian northeastern states. "We need to reach out to the minorities and try to know the reasons why they are not with the BJP. We need to knock at their doors," Naidu said. Since sectarian violence racked BJP-ruled Gujarat in February-May, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's party has increasingly been accused of returning to an aggressive pro-Hindu stance. Four of the seven northeastern states -- Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura -- go to the assembly polls in February. Barring Tripura, the other three states have more than 90 percent Christian populations. The BJP president said the party's strength in the southern and northeastern states still remains far from satisfactory. "We need to have specific agendas for all these states where our presence is not very strong," Naidu said. The BJP also hinted that it would go it alone in the assembly elections next year in 10 states. "We should not think of alliance or seat adjustments at this juncture and try and work to achieve a clear mandate. That should be our goal," Naidu said. "For the general elections due in 2004, the BJP should aim to win 300 seats on its own so that we are not dependent on allies." Naidu said the Guwahati conclave was a major step towards a mid-term appraisal for the BJP. "We shall be taking stock of the party's political health and what best we can do go ahead in our mission for a peaceful and secure India," the BJP president said. "We have pledged to eliminate terrorism from India. We are a nuclear power, but then we don't want to use (nuclear weapons) on anybody." Terming the country's main opposition Congress party as one of the most "destructive" political groups, the BJP chief alleged it was responsible for all the insurgencies and separatist movements plaguing the country. "The Congress party is nothing but a negative and bankrupt opposition with no leader of its own and also no unity worth the name," Naidu said. "All separatist campaigns in India were being propped up by the Congress during its last 50 years of rule since India's independence in 1947." The BJP has failed to win a single state election since Vajpayee became prime minister for the second time in 1998 at the head of a multi-party coalition. It has been desperate to arrest that trend although it does not yet appear that it will register any dramatic improvement in the northeast. Vajpayee will be the catchword for the BJP in the coming elections, said another top party leader. "We need to tell the people in the coming polls about the virtues of Vajpayee and his government's good work during the past four years," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said at the conclave. --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead !
