BJP brass meets today to draw road map for 2014 LS polls

After a good showing in the recent Assembly elections in some states, the BJP top brass and party chief ministers will meet on December 24 to chalk out a road map for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, with Aam Aadmi Party that is going to form the government in the national capital emerging a challenge in urban areas.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, L K Advani, prime minister nominee Narendra Modi, leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, and newly elected CMs Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan, Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh and Shivraj Singh Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh are some of the top leaders who will be attending the meeting.
The BJP is keenly watching the AAP government formation, made possible by outside unconditional support offered by the Congress, as the leaders do not rule out AAP coming up with fresh surprises in urban areas of other states as they did in Delhi.

The party brass officially is, however, dismissive of the AAP as they believe that an alliance between the new party and the Congress will not last long due to inherent contradictions. “Aam Aadmi Party owes people many answers. Kejriwal had said he will never accept Congress support. Why is there a U-turn and what is the deal behind accepting Congress support now? This is hypocrisy,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

The AAP style of functioning has also shaken the BJP as, one of the issues tasked, was to go to people’s homes to create awareness about UPA’s misgovernance and economic failures apart from accessing their mind. Party leaders say that the election related exercises have to be completed by February, as they expect the Election Commission to announce the Lok Sabha poll schedule by March.

The high-moral standards Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has set is even impacting Madhya Pradesh, with CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan holding a get-together of his newly elected cabinet to emphasise on good conduct, said party sources. 

The party is also going to announce the first list of 100 candidates in January for the Lok Sabha polls.