Nagpur (Maharshtra), Aug 27: Bangaru Laxman will formally take over as
the fifth BJP President on Sunday at the ongoing three-day National Convention of the Bharatiya Janata Party which began here on Saturday.
On the opening day the Kashmir issue generated a lot of heat. The issue dominated the deliberations of the Party`s National Executive which met to prepare the draft political resolution to be adopted at the two-day National council meeting beginning on Sunday. As the executive took up discussion on the resolution, several members came out openly against the Government`s approach towards the Kashmir issue.
The members were of the view that Kashmir remained one of the party`s main issues when it was in the Opposition. But the NDA Government had mishandled it, forcing the party to go on the defensive.The members, particularly former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, the sources said, were critical of the manner the whole issue was being taken up by the Government.Surface Transport Minister Rajnath Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arujn Jaitley, former Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Hari Shankar Prasad defended the Government. They referred to the resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and also the speech of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on autonomy.
The National Conference is an ally in the NDA Government and it should have taken the Central Government into confidence before adopting any such resolution, they said. The tenor of their criticism was that the Government had given up pro-active policy towards Kashmir and become `soft`. The Government should have shown its displeasure sternly to the National Conference, particularly to its leader, Dr Farooq Abdullah, on the resolution. The members were also critical of the handling of Amarnath pilgrimage which witnessed massacre of more than 100 pilgrims. Many members did not support the way the talks were being held with Hizbul Muzhahideen leaders to resolve the Kashmir tangle. They said the government should never agree to the inclusion of
Pakistan in the talks as asked by the Mujhahideen.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh were not present in the meeting when the members spoke, as they were held up in Delhi for some urgent government work and could not reach here. Vajpayee and Advani joined the meeting only late in the evening when the situation in the North East was being discussed. The Executive will also finalise the draft economic resolution to be discussed and adopted in the the National Council meeting beginning on Sunday with Bangaru Laxman formally taking over as the fifth BJP President.
—UNI
