The Hindu : People have trust in BJP: PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 19, 2003

Front Page

Front Page

People have trust in BJP: PM

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

Photo: Vivek Bendre

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, at the `Chintan Baithak' in Utthan, near Mumbai, on Wednesday. The others are (from left): the Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, the Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, and the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu.

UTTHAN (THANE) June 18. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, feels that the people's trust in the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance Government led by it, and the credibility "we have gained, both before and after coming to power" are the party's "most valuable assets" to be used in its bid to triumph in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The party should ensure that this trust "did not diminish with time" and that the "value of this asset grows", he said today.

The people, he said at the start of the BJP's three-day "chintan baithak" here, "have formed a good opinion" about the two entities "because of the work done in the past five years on diverse fronts". Never mind that it was "our first experience in Government", but "we have succeeded in providing stability to the country". A sharp focus on the economic front coupled with attention to issues of infrastructure was beginning to yield results.

On the "propaganda of the BJP's adversaries", he said despite such efforts "it is being widely perceived that we care for all sections of our diverse society and take all of them along with us". The propaganda, he implied, had not cut ice with the people because of "the trust" the BJP enjoyed.

The participants today began a State-by-State analysis of the scope for gains in the 2004 elections. The party's general secretary and head of the Election Campaign Committee, Pramod Mahajan, made a presentation on what could be the Mission 2004 document. If widely accepted, it would find support in decisions that would enable the party to achieve an improved mandate.

Though he did not speak of the possible anti-incumbency factor that normally arises before an election, Mr. Vajpayee dealt with what he called the "trust-eroding quality of power". Political power, he cautioned, "has an intrinsic quality of reducing people's trust in rulers". To neutralise this, the party's leaders and functionaries need to take steps.

In his perception, the air was "favourable to the BJP and its allies in the NDA". "Let our army of workers go among the people with self-confidence and explain to them what we have done in the past five years and what our vision for India's future is," he said.

The other speaker and party chief, M. Venkaiah Naidu, underscored the relationship with the RSS thus: "the BJP is proud of its association with the RSS. We derive both our ideology and idealism from the Sangh Parivar."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Lull on LoC cannot be sustained: Musharraf

'Pak. was never in favour of war'

Kanchi Acharya's proposal yet to reach Muslim Board

People have trust in BJP: PM

'Advani a source of strength'

Consensus eludes ARF on Pak. entry

CAS: Govt. may resort to coercion

Uttaranchal Minister quits

Stay in Dabhol case

Bomb scare In Kolkata

Ready to surrender

CISF cop sacked