Govt has lost political authority, says BJP

Surajkund (Haryana): The BJP's national council is meeting today in Surajkund in Haryana where the party is expected to formulate its strategy on the current political and economic situation in the country.

And ahead of the meeting, party general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad has told NDTV that reforms and progress with equity has always been on the BJP's agenda.

"We are proud of the record of governance of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, proud of reforms, growth with equity and India getting a pride of place. We are going to remind the people of the country that is the India we are keeping in mind. And also, amidst all this gloom, when Dr Manmohan Singh is talking of 1991 scenario, the BJP state governments and the NDA state governments are doing quite well - be it Gujarat, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh or Himachal Pradesh. Those are our benchmark and we are going to tell that to the people of the country," said Mr Prasad.

But he also hit out at the Congress saying that the BJP's main focus will be to fight Congress's corruption scandals.

"I wish to make it clear that the main focus is the corruption of this government, which has lost all moral political authority to govern this country," Mr Prasad said.

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The BJP leader also said that the party will finalise its campaign against the government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.

"As far as FDI is concerned, we are proud of our record of reforms. But every policy change is not reform. And if a norm of reform, dictated from the West and picked up by the pink paper, as the only panacea for India's ills, then sorry, it is not acceptable to us," said Mr Prasad.

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Mr Prasad had said yesterday that his party will scrap the policy if it comes to power. "We are opposed to FDI in multi-brand retail and once we come to power, the consequences will follow," He had said.

At the meeting yesterday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi intervened in a debate on foreign direct investment in retail to suggest that the party take the issue to the village level and offered a systematic plan to negate the Congress' "reforms are back" campaign. He suggested that the party hold more than 5000 public meetings across the country to highlight the BJP's objections, 10 in each Lok Sabha constituency. The Gujarat Chief Minister also suggested the BJP emphasise to traders and farmers that the Centre's decision to allow big foreign chains like Walmart to set up shop would affect them adversely.

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Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar too had said that the BJP will counter the government's decision to allow 51 per cent foreign equity in multi-brand retail by pointing out that 100 per cent FDI in back-end operations in the food processing industries has been allowed for a decade, but has yielded very low investment.

The argument will be part of an economic resolution that the BJP's national council will finalise and pass. The BJP leaders are meeting over three days in the picnic town of Surajkund near Delhi to give shape to the party's strategy ahead of elections in states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where it is in power.

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While Mr Gadkari and  other senior leaders like LK Advani are present at the national executive meeting in Surajkund on the outskirts of the capital, Karnataka heavyweight BS Yeddyurappa has skipped the session, opting to enrol for a three-day course with the Art of Living Foundation in Bangalore, headed by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. His party no doubt wishes fervently that he finds the inner peace that the Foundation promises.

For close to two years now, since he was forced to quit as the Chief Minister of the BJP's only government in the South, Mr Yeddyurappa has been in perma-rebel mode. He threatens repeatedly to split the BJP - a warning that has teeth, given his extensive following among local leaders.In July last year, he chose his successor when corruption charges ousted him from office. A year later, he asked that his replacement be removed, and deftly delivered his new favourite, Jagadish Shettar, to the Chief Minister's office.

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With elections in Karnataka just months away, Mr Yeddyurappa's absence from this week's three-day brainstorming session does not bode well for the BJP.

(With PTI inputs)