Archives

New Delhi, Sunday (AFP, Reuters)

Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani urged workers of his Hindu nationalist BJP party to court minorities and lower castes ahead of provincial polls next year and national elections in 2004.

Addressing a BJP national council meeting, Advani said the party had to consolidate its position among all sections of voters. "You have to reach out to the the minorities and the lower caste people and impress upon them that the BJP understands them and they are not vote banks," Advani said.

"Ours is not just another party. It is a party with difference... Ours is not a party but a nationalist movement."

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who leads a fractious coalition, the National Democratic Alliance, more than two dozen parties stressed the need for "maintaining a balance between national and political interests." "The difference between political interests and national interests must be realised by all parties. A democracy cannot run without broad consensus," Vajpayee said while wrapping up the meeting.

For the first time, the BJP has invited some of its coalition allies to attend the conclave, in an effort to bridge differences. Early Saturday, the council ratified the appointment of former rural development minister Venkaiah Naidu as the BJP president.

Earlier the BJP vowed to intensify the fight "to end Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism" in disputed Kashmir

"We urge the government to further intensify this battle... so that Pakistan is forced to back off permanently from its dangerous and self-destructive reliance on terrorism and religious extremism as an instrument of its Kashmir policy," the BJP said in a document at a meeting of its national council.

BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu also told the council meeting the government should continue to ask western nations to lean on Pakistan to end "terrorism", although ultimately India would have to fight the battle on its own.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager