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BJP plans campaign to sell Vajpayee's feats

The Bharatiya Janata Party will launch a five-week campaign from February 11, the day Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay achieved martyrdom, to create awareness among its workers and the general public about the achievements of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Announcing this after a meeting of the party's state presidents and general secretaries, BJP president Kushabhau Thakre said the campaign would end on March 19, the day the party came to power last year.

He stressed the need to train workers, and said the campaign would comprise training and reorientation programmes. There would be separate programmes for women and new legislators at state and regional levels.

In February, he would visit Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa, where election to the assemblies would be held this year. He would also visit states that are scheduled for polls next March.

Replying to whether the party would go it alone in the assembly election in Karnataka, instead of allying with Ramakrishna Hegde's Lok Shakti, he said it was too early to discuss it. He would decide the issue after touring the state.

General secretary Venkaiah Naidu said the party would highlight the double standards of its political rivals and the disinformation campaign launched by them against the government. State-level political camps would be organised before the campaign to work out a strategy, he added.

He said the campaign would be four-pronged, with a view to reach the mandal-level besides cities, towns and regional centres.

A three-day training camp would be conducted from February 5 for the new legislators of Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Another programme for the in-charges of the training would be held in Madras on February 2 and in Calcutta on February 4. For New Delhi, the date is yet to be finalised.

Naidu said training for women would be held for three days from February 18 near New Delhi.

UNI

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