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BJP national executive to discuss Jana's blueprint for improving ties with RSS

George Iype in New Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party's two-day national executive meeting will dissect the performance of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and evolve a mechanism for better coordination between the party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the coalition government.

Prime Minister Vajpayee, BJP president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre, senior leaders, ministers, 75 executive committee members and 66 special invitees will attend the meeting to be held on January 2 and 3 in Bangalore.

BJP vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy, who has prepared a blueprint to improve the image of the coalition and the party and to highlight the Vajpayee government's achievements said that he will submit his proposals to the national executive.

"Despite criticisms and alliance problems, the Vajpayee government has performed admirably well. But there has been a negative campaign against the BJP and the government in the past few months. The national executive will chalk out plans to stop this deliberate and motivated campaign," Krishnamurthy told Rediff On The NeT.

He said the priority areas that will come up for discussion at the executive will be the performance of the Vajpayee government especially its management of the economy. "There is always a scope for improvement in the performance of any government. We are going to ensure that the party policies and the government actions do not clash," the BJP vice-president said.

BJP officials said Krishnamurthy's recommendations include making one party official each in charge of the Prime Minister's Office and other key ministries like the finance, industry, commerce and social welfare to ensure that government decisions and party policies go hand in hand.

The national executive session is likely to set up a special committee to propagate the achievements of the Vajpayee government. The achievements include the nuclear blasts, countering terrorism in Kashmir, dialogue with Pakistan, the Cauvery settlement and peace in the North-East.

Party sources disclosed that one of the key decisions will be setting up an effective mechanism that will act as the link between the BJP and RSS leaderships, the government and the coalition.

The prime minister has extensively discussed establishing the mechanism to regularly exchange views on the government decisions and party policies with Thakre and RSS joint general secretary K S Sudershan.

The BJP-RSS leaders and the prime minister are believed to have agreed that the much-publicised fiasco on the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill could have been avoided if there have been frequent interactions between them.

"We feel the clash between the coalition and the swadeshi lobby in the party came out in the open due to lack of effective coordination between the government and the party. Therefore, setting up a panel of senior BJP-RSS leaders to interact with the government on a daily basis has become a necessity," a BJP official told Rediff On The NeT.

He said there is a possibility the national executive will recommend that the Vajpayee coalition's apex coordination committee should be reconstituted and re-activated. "It has been ineffective as our alliance partners have often gone on attacking the government," the BJP official added.

The national executive will assess the reasons that led to the party's dismal performance in the November assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and chalk out long-term strategies for state polls in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Sikkim in November 1999.

The party's attitude and the government's policies towards the minority communities will also come up for extensive discussion.

A special session is to be dedicated to the international criticism that the government has received after attacks against Christians in the north Indian states increased after Vajpayee came to power. It will also urge the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to go soft on its attacks against Christian missionaries in the country.

The meeting will throw up ideas for further implementing the national agenda for governance and the party's promises on the controversial bills on women's reservation, the states' reorganisation, setting up the Lok Pal and the Central Vigilance Commission.

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