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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani has advised his Bharatiya Janata Party colleagues to shun a defensive approach and adopt an aggressive strategy for the forthcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat, a top party leader told rediff.com on Wednesday.
He said that during a high-level BJP meeting held in the party headquarters on Tuesday, which included Advani, party chief M Venkaiah Naidu, five general secretaries and one vice-president, the deputy prime minister told them that 'there will be an early election (in Gujarat)'.
"Advaniji told the party leaders that he had reasons to believe that the poll would be held early and that they should not think of a defensive, but an aggressive approach," he said.
Asked how the deputy prime minister could predict an early election, when the three-member Election Commission team led by Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lygndoh had not submitted its report, the BJP leader said, "It is the gut feeling of Advaniji." Pushed for a clarification he refused to elaborate.
Referring to the twin visits by the EC to Gujarat -- first by a nine-member team, followed by the full Commission -- the BJP leader contended, "All this indicates that even the Election Commission does not want unnecessary delay in the completion of the poll process."
He said that Advani urged all of them to 'immediately direct all their energies' in launching programmes to highlight the Vajpayee government's achievements during its three years in office.
He said the deputy prime minister also asked his party colleagues 'to show some fighting spirit in countering the propaganda of the opposition parties, mainly the Congress'.
Advani underscored that the government has revealed its transparent functioning by allowing foreign visitors to go to Jammu and Kashmir (during the polls), he said.
However, Advani pointed out that while the government was doing everything to facilitate the poll process, it would not allow any mischief by vested interests and 'those who were seeking to undermine our achievements', he added.
Also See: Advani denies commenting on EC's Gujarat mission Lyngdoh promises early decision on Gujarat election Worry about polls, not relief measures: BJP tells EC Venkaiah pushes BJP's case on Gujarat
Coverage of the runup to the Gujarat poll
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