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BJP moots introspection to
contain indiscipline

Taking serious note of increasing factionalism and indiscipline in the party rank and file, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday called for honest introspection at every level in the organisation to stem the rot.

In a draft 'Delhi Pledge' to be adopted by the party at its national council meeting which began in New Delhi on Saturday, the party also resolved to consolidate its regional-social expansion, become a via media between the people and the government, create exemplary mass leaders and develop the mindset of a ruling party.

"Factionalism, indiscipline, and inadequate participation of workers in the party's functioning have impaired and imperiled some state and local units of the party from time to time," the draft pledge said.

While blaming the Congress and other parties for polluting the environment with a "culture of scandals and power games," the draft pledge said: "We are aware that some of the these negative traits and trends have also peripherally crept into the BJP's organisation and functioning in recent years. Our party has had to pay a heavy price wherever these have assumed dominant proportions."

Asserting that it retained the capacity to take remedial action when needed, the party pledged to intensify its vigilance against all these "malignancies."

The draft pledge said the most urgent task before the party was to gear up the party machinery "to win a renewed mandate in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where assembly elections will be held soon, and to win in other states that will go to polls next year."

"Our objectives are clear and straightforward: consolidation of our support base in traditional regions and social groups, and simultaneous expansion of our influence in ever-newer parts of India and Indian society," it added.

Giving a clarion call to its cadres to "go to the villages," the draft pledge said: "We should expand the scope of our activities among kisans in rural areas...we should especially redouble our efforts to increase our party's work among the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and the most backward among the OBCs and women of all classes."

The party, however, ruled out adopting any method of appeasement to attract the minorities pointing out that "our adversaries' motivated and self-serving propaganda that the BJP is anti-minorities is unsustainable because no falsehood can ever live forever."

In an honest confession, the party said that since assuming office at the Centre in 1998, "we have acutely realised the need, at all levels of the organisation, for making a mental transition from being a party of the opposition to a ruling party."

"We must realise that the people's expectations from us are very high. Our people are no longer swayed by empty promises. They want those in power to solve their pressing and long standing problems. They reward good performers and punish those who are perceived to be bad performers," the pledge said.

Delineating the "five tasks before the government," the party urged the National Democratic Alliance regime to further intensify the fight against Pak-sponsored cross-border terrorism "with all means at its command, so that Pakistan is forced to back off permanently from its dangerous and self-destructive reliance on terrorism and religious extremism as an instrument of its Kashmir policy."

The party asked the government to follow up on its ambitious goal of achieving eight per cent GDP growth "by drawing up a doable strategy for achieving it."

It also asked the government to consider starting a few major initiatives in crucial sectors like the railways, power, irrigation and rural infrastructure besides "improving the working of the existing social security schemes and launching new ones for the various categories of the poor and middle class."

Reminding the government of the "solemn promise we had made to the electorate to create 10 million new employment opportunities," the party asked it to improve the monitoring of its employment and self-employment programmes and direct banks to fully support economic empowerment of the poor through self-help groups.

It also called upon the government to pay urgent attention to difficulties facing the small-scale sector, reform labour laws and safeguard the interests of existing workers.

PTI

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