BJP to discuss LS poll strategy at its national meet

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu has said that the party will discuss the strategy for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections at its national council meeting at Nagpur from February 6 to 8.

Naidu, who was in Vijayawada to review arrangements for Vijaya Sankalp Yatra, a public meeting to be addressed by the party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Wednesday, told mediapersons that 8,000 party functionaries from all over the country would participate in the three-day Nagpur meeting.

The party had already finalised 100 candidates for the Lok Sabha. By March, the entire list of candidates would be released, he added.

Naidu claimed that people were eagerly waiting for the BJP to come back to power, and added that the party would go alone in the general elections.

He said that the Left parties did not have any concrete strategy and were supporting the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party wherever it was convenient to them. The parties had lost the confidence of people and no party in the state would get a comfortable majority, he said.

All schemes initiated by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government had come to a standstill during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance rule, he added.

Adavni had completed the Vijaya Sankalpa Yatras in 12 states and the remaining yatras would conclude before March, he said and added that the Yatra's aim is to infuse confidence in people.

Speaking on the Election Commission crisis, Naidu said that BJP was demanding the immediate removal of EC Navin Chawla, in the wake of the recommendations made by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy to President Pratibha Patil.

He recalled that the Shah Commission had recommended to the government not to appoint Chawla to any post of importance, Naidu added. The BJP leader said elections could not be conducted with transparency if Chawla continued to be the Election Commissioner.

Naidu demanded that the government make public the letter written by Chief Election Commissioner to the President. He said that as per the Constitution, the Election Commissioner has the right to ask the President to remove his colleague from the post. He alleged that the character and behaviour of Navin Chawla is not up to the mark.

Naidu alleged that Chawla collected funds under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme from MPs for the benefit of his family trust. He said that the Congress was politicising the issue to get political mileage.

A replacement motion in Parliament against Chawla also to be considered, but so far the party has not yet taken any decision in this regard, he added.