We haven’t forgotten Ram,Advani assures his party

Advani also put his seal on what had been in the works for some time. In an ambitious plan,various second-rung leaders,including BJP chief ministers,have been asked to run “independent campaigns,blending the national with the regional and the local in their states” as part of the party’s Lok Sabha campaign. The Parivar’s core Hindu agenda,thus,would be played out in the party’s traditional strongholds. The BJP’s national executive had earlier agreed to “decentralise,democratise and federalise” party’s Lok Sabha election campaign. “It would be like various BJP,and even NDA,CMs running presidential-style campaigns in their respective states,” said a BJP leader.

While Advani said his party had given birth to a galaxy of leaders,“without taking recourse to family politics”,and complimented every second-rung BJP leader,he picked Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for special praise. “I was once asked if he has become bigger than the party. But the head of the family only gets overwhelmed when told that one of the younger members of the family has made a name bigger than the elders,” he said,in what was yet another indicator of who could be the leader in the post-Advani era.

Talking about people belonging to various religious denominations,he said that “the Muslims and other minority groups here had been taken for a ride by previous Congress-led governments”. “I want to tell the Muslims that they have been used as a vote back by the Congress. I want to tell them that their welfare alone would be our concern. Shahnawaz Hussein has just described how the Muslims in Gujarat have the highest per capita income in the country,” he added.

“I changed the terms of debate from the ‘secularism vs communalism’ discourse to ‘genuine secularism vs pseudo secularism’ debate with the Ayodhya yatra. We never used expressions like Muslim terrorism whereas the Congress-led Government came up with its thesis of Hindu terror. Ours is the only party that puts the ‘nation first’,” he said,paraphrasing the Jeetega Bhajpa,Jeetega Gujarat to Jeetega Bhajpa,Jeetega Bharat.

Saying that he was happy when Union Home Minister P Chidambram called on him after the 26/11 attack,and revealed that the UPA Government wanted to bring in anti-terror legislations,his party had offered them constructive support.

After two days of insipid fare,the concluding day of the BJP council meet had a few pluses. For one,the assembled workers appeared a charged up lot. There was finally some synergy seen between Advani and party president Rajnath Singh. “I have not seen this kind of enthusiasm amongst party workers in any other meet,” said Advani. The meet ended with a prayer for a speedy recovery of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

POLLCAPTAINS

•NARENDRA MODI: In charge of Gujarat,Maharashtra,Goa as well as UTs of Daman Diu and Nagar Haveli

•VENKAIAH NAIDU: Won’t contest. In charge of Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Kerala,Puducherry,Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshwadweep

•ARUN JAITLEY: Won’t contest: In charge of UP,Bihar,Delhi,Punjab and Chandigarh

•Sushma Swaraj: Will contest from Bhopal. In charge of Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand

•SHANTA KUMAR (assisted by Bhagat Singh Koshiyari): In charge of Jammu and Kashmir,Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand and Haryana

•V SATISH: Orissa

SOUDAN SINGH: Rajasthan (assisted by Vasundhara Raje)

•V K MALHOTRA: to help Jaitley with Delhi

•S S AHLUWALIA,HARENDRA PRATAP AND CHANDRASEKHAR: Assam,Northeast and Sikkim. (Ahluwalia has additional charge of West Bengal)