Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday bluntly told BJP workers, “We have to be different” from the ruling Congress which, she said, seemed to be on the verge of collapsing, thanks to inner contradictions among top party leaders and a string of corruption allegations.
Addressing the BJP national executive here, she said the party must learn from the mistakes of the Congress: failure to check inflation, unbridled corruption and dissensions at the top. It should also prepare earnestly to face the elections anytime for, it was difficult to see the United Progressive Alliance government carrying on till the end of its term in 2014.
Ironically, her remarks on dissensions came even as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the former Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa, were absent at the meeting.
In his valedictory address to the nearly 200 members of the executive, senior leader L.K. Advani said the UPA seemed to be “dysfunctional” and “suicidal,” with a never-ending string of corruption scandals shredding its credibility. What was needed was a series of reforms to check corruption in the administrative set-up and in the conduct of elections. He also referred to the arrest of two former party MPs and his former political aide in the ‘cash-for-vote' scandal.
Addressing the press after the meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said it was difficult to say if and when mid-term elections would take place. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to visualise this government completing its tenure.
He said the BJP's preparedness in the States going to the polls next year was reviewed. From Uttar Pradesh, besides the former national president, Rajnath Singh, and Kalraj Mishra, the newly inducted leaders Uma Bharati and Sanjay Joshi were invited to be present.
While Mr. Jaitley did not elaborate on the party's strategy, other leaders said that besides wooing the upper castes, there was need to attract non-Yadav Backward Classes for the party to make an electoral impact.
The party reiterated what it said at the last national executive committee meeting in Lucknow that it would not ally with any party for the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh. The political resolution reiterated the demand for the resignation of Home Minister P. Chidambaram in relation to the 2G scam.
