— Photo: PTI

BJP leaders at the three-day National Executive meeting in Dehra Dun on Thursday.

DEHRA DUN: Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Thursday said a mid-term general election was likely and the BJP should be prepared to face the ballot-box test at short notice.

Attacking the United Progressive Alliance Government for the "directionless politics" witnessed over the last two years, he said not only the allies and supporters of the UPA but even its Ministers became cynical. The Left parties had clearly warned the Government that they would review their support in the coming days if better alternative policies and programmes were not adopted, and senior Congress Ministers virtually challenged the Left to withdraw support instead of issuing daily threats.

"Unnatural alliance"

The UPA was born to prevent the BJP and its alliance partners from coming to power. It was an unnatural alliance, Mr. Singh said in his opening speech at the party's three-day national executive committee session here. In an all encompassing 10-page speech, he touched upon almost every issue - the nuclear deal with the United States, rising prices and suicide by farmers, the growing threat of terrorism, increasing unemployment with 17 per cent graduates unable to find jobs, the virtual halt of the economic reform process, the UPA's inability to deal with natural disasters, its "betrayal" on the Telangana issue, and the BJP's own internal election process and the need to face up to the challenges ahead, especially the elections in four States early next year.

Two demands

The BJP president made two demands: inclusion of Vande Mataram under clause 51A of the Constitution, which deals with respect for the flag and the anthem, and a new law to deal with terrorism even if it is not called the Prevention of Terrorism Act. "We need the killer instinct to deal with terror, not the healing touch."

Reservation for women

The party chief also made a plea for bringing in legislation to give women political reservation in Parliament and the State Assemblies. This could be done by increasing the number of seats by roughly one-third of the existing strength, the BJP suggested.

Neighbourhood

Mr. Singh talked about India's troubled neighbourhood — what with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka, Maoists in Nepal, the new jehadi terror centres in Bangladesh and the continuing threat from terrorist camps in Pakistan. The UPA Government, he said, was unable to deal with its problems through any cohesive policy.

"Appeasement"

Finally, Mr. Singh assailed the Congress for "appeasement of the minorities," a theme on which he began his speech. He attacked the Congress president for not participating in the singing of Vande Mataram at a function held at the All-India Congress Committee headquarters in the national capital on Thursday. That was another instance of "appeasement" and "vote-bank politics," he said.

While the word Hindutva did not appear in his written text, the controversy over Vande Mataram was used to project the BJP's ideological project. His message to the party members was that it was the BJP's task "to spread its ideology," not simply to guarantee the BJP's future prospects but for the future of the country. The BJP's goal was to create a great nation.

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