AAP not discussed in BJP's national executive

Party kept its focus on Congress

The challenge posed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was not a formal talking point at Friday’s national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Instead, the party kept its focus on its traditional major rival, the Congress.

“Congress can see the writing on the wall and is trying to ensure the BJP does not get a clear majority (in the coming general election). It is making every effort to stop the BJP’s march to success,” party president Rajnath Singh said in his opening remarks.

The national executive session is held once a year. Friday’s was also attended by the party’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, who arrived early morning and sat through the day.

Over the weekend, the BJP will also hold a national council meeting, where the party will discuss a political and an economic resolution. Their manifesto for the Lok Sabha election later this year would be in line with these. Both were discussed at Friday’s meeting.

The final political resolution of the party will criticise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its poor management of the economy, corruption scandals and having a soft approach on terrorism.

It will talk of the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan, arrest of fishermen by Sri Lanka, and the mishandling of the Devyani Khobragade case. The party will also advocate against the land-boundary agreement which the government wanted to sign with Bangladesh. A section of the resolution will be dedicated to Gujarat and allege Congress’ involvement in promoting particular NGOs to file riot cases against the Gujarat government.

The economic resolution of the party is unlikely to suggest any solutions, but will focus on current economic condition. The party will, however, advocate the need to boost the manufacturing sector in the country. But, the issue of Foreign Direct Investment is likely to go unmentioned.