In a sneak preview of what the Bharatiya Janata Party campaign could be for the Lok Sabha polls next year, party stalwart LK Advani lampooned the Congress led UPA for its soft stance on terror while acknowledging that Delhi and Rajasthan Assembly battles were lost due to the party’s own faults.
In a strong message to party colleagues, Advani said the party has to remain "objective" while selecting candidates and the "yours or mine" factor should not come into play.
Advani’s statements were viewed as tacit acceptance that the Right wing outfit failed to distribute party tickets in an "objective" manner and the selection of candidates on the basis of favouritism and factionalism lead to the defeat.
He also warned party leaders to exercise caution while appearing on TV or releasing statements to the press.
Lauding the successful campaigns in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Advani said the victories were significant as traditional anti-incumbency factors did not work against party governments in these states.
The BJP is scheduled to kick off its ticket distribution exercise for the Lok Sabha polls from January 8 when the central election committee meets in New Delhi, decided office-bearers' in a meeting on Wednesday.
The party has also identified its senior central leaders to deal with allies and seat sharing in various states.
Arun Jaitley will deal with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Sushma Swaraj will look after Punjab and Haryana and Venkaiah Naidu will handle Maharashtra, Orissa and Assam.
In UP, Jaitley has already been working to bring Ajit Singh's RLD and other smaller parties into the NDA fold.
In Punjab and Haryana, Swaraj will have to coordinate with Shiromani Akali Dal and Chautala's INLD, while Naidu will deal with AGP in Assam, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and BJD in Orissa.
Economic recession and terrorism will retain focus as main election issues for the Lok Sabha, party chief Rajnath Singh, in his address, mentioned that the economic measures taken by the government to deal with the crisis have failed to create impact at the ground level, especially in rural areas.
Attacking the UPA on terror, Advani reiterated that the Antulay controversy and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's inability to rein in one of the cabinet ministers, whose statement has weakened India's fight against terror and dealing with Pakistan, reflects that the Congress-led government is still falling for vote bank politics.
In a resolution, the party came out strongly against the government saying, "It was evident that the compulsions of vote bank politics paralysed the Congress once again despite great national cost and prestige (Mumbai attacks). Taking a tough position externally relating to Pakistan and meekly surrendering before vote bank politics domestically cannot go hand in hand. BJP demands that A R Antulay be sacked and the Congress apologize to the nation for this."
Lampooning the Prime Minister, BJP said, "If Dr Manmohan Singh cannot firmly deal with an ‘erring’ cabinet minister, to what extent can he be expected to deal firmly against terror."
With Left parties vowing to refrain from lending support to a Congress led government and the emerging contest in Uttar Pradesh seeming set to percolate into a no-holds-barred fight between the BSP and the Congress, 2009 may well turn out to be the year Advani has been waiting for.
In a strong message to party colleagues, Advani said the party has to remain "objective" while selecting candidates and the "yours or mine" factor should not come into play.
Advani’s statements were viewed as tacit acceptance that the Right wing outfit failed to distribute party tickets in an "objective" manner and the selection of candidates on the basis of favouritism and factionalism lead to the defeat.
He also warned party leaders to exercise caution while appearing on TV or releasing statements to the press.
Lauding the successful campaigns in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Advani said the victories were significant as traditional anti-incumbency factors did not work against party governments in these states.
The BJP is scheduled to kick off its ticket distribution exercise for the Lok Sabha polls from January 8 when the central election committee meets in New Delhi, decided office-bearers' in a meeting on Wednesday.
The party has also identified its senior central leaders to deal with allies and seat sharing in various states.
Arun Jaitley will deal with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Sushma Swaraj will look after Punjab and Haryana and Venkaiah Naidu will handle Maharashtra, Orissa and Assam.
In UP, Jaitley has already been working to bring Ajit Singh's RLD and other smaller parties into the NDA fold.
In Punjab and Haryana, Swaraj will have to coordinate with Shiromani Akali Dal and Chautala's INLD, while Naidu will deal with AGP in Assam, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and BJD in Orissa.
Economic recession and terrorism will retain focus as main election issues for the Lok Sabha, party chief Rajnath Singh, in his address, mentioned that the economic measures taken by the government to deal with the crisis have failed to create impact at the ground level, especially in rural areas.
Attacking the UPA on terror, Advani reiterated that the Antulay controversy and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's inability to rein in one of the cabinet ministers, whose statement has weakened India's fight against terror and dealing with Pakistan, reflects that the Congress-led government is still falling for vote bank politics.
In a resolution, the party came out strongly against the government saying, "It was evident that the compulsions of vote bank politics paralysed the Congress once again despite great national cost and prestige (Mumbai attacks). Taking a tough position externally relating to Pakistan and meekly surrendering before vote bank politics domestically cannot go hand in hand. BJP demands that A R Antulay be sacked and the Congress apologize to the nation for this."
Lampooning the Prime Minister, BJP said, "If Dr Manmohan Singh cannot firmly deal with an ‘erring’ cabinet minister, to what extent can he be expected to deal firmly against terror."
With Left parties vowing to refrain from lending support to a Congress led government and the emerging contest in Uttar Pradesh seeming set to percolate into a no-holds-barred fight between the BSP and the Congress, 2009 may well turn out to be the year Advani has been waiting for.
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