Mandir, civil code still on BJP agenda: Venkaiah

The party was, however, sensitive to the feelings of all religions whose properties it would protect while stopping remittance of huge sums into the country for conversions, he asserted.

BJP senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said his party was committed to its core principles of Ram temple, repeal of Article 370 and Uniform Civil Code. (file photo) PTI

BJP senior leader and former Rajya Sabha member M. Venkaiah Naidu said his party was committed to its core principles of >Ram temple, repeal of Article 370 and > Uniform Civil Code. However, it will not seek to unilaterally implement them as it could not brush the concerns of National Democratic Alliance partners (NDA) aside.

The party was, at the same time, sensitive to the feelings of all religions whose properties it would protect while stopping remittance of huge sums into the country for conversions, he asserted.

Addressing a Meet-the-Press session organszed by the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists at the Press Club here on Monday, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said the BJP was for good governance which the UPA could not deliver in its successive tenures.

In fact, the UPA’s policies pushed the economy into a major crisis with a staggering 35 per cent of the national budget (Rs 14 lakh crore) being spent on debt servicing alone (amounting to nearly Rs 5 lakh crore).

BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s nationwide appeal was backed by proven track record of his model of development which could be seen in Gujarat. In the manifesto for 2014 elections, the party proposed concrete measures to keep revenue, fiscal and current accounts under check while trying to solve the ‘crisis of confidence’ that plagued the country.

On bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said no party, including the BJP, has ever tried to keep the State united. By forging alliances with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in 2004 and 2009, Congress and TDP-Left parties’ combine have made their intentions amply clear and each one of them have duly contributed to division of the State. It was only the BJP which maintained a consistent stand on bifurcation and fought for justice to people of Seemandhra in Parliament.

Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said the confusion over seat-sharing with TDP could be avoided and expressed confidence that the TDP would withdraw its candidates in three Assembly constituencies which were allotted to the BJP. He refused to take names of those who caused the problem by saying that it would be a futile thing to do at this stage.