By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to take on the government on the India-US nuclear deal during the month-long parliament session beginning Friday but will focus on inflation and terrorism during the campaign for assembly elections in five states.
“We’ll be taking up the issues of inflation and terrorism during the state election campaigning. They have appeal among people,” a senior BJP leader said, wishing not to be named.
“People even in the interiors and far-flung areas of the country are concerned about these issues,” said the leader, who just returned after touring several states.
Talking about terrorism, the BJP leader said that they also plan to cash in on the “politics of Jamia Nagar encounter”.
After the serial bomb blasts in the city on Sep 13, two suspected terrorists were killed in a shootout with police in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi that many believe was stage-managed.
Many political parties, including the Samajwadi party, have dobted the police version of the shootout.
M. Venkaiah Naidu, member of the BJP election committee, had made the party’s strategy clear to IANS about a month ago in an interview.
“You can discuss the India-US nuclear deal but not even one percent of the public are concerned or understand deal,” Naidu had said.
That is why the issue of inflation will also be very significant during the election campaign.
The BJP is also confident that identification of chief ministerial candidates in the election-bound states will help it.
“There is immense infighting going on in the Congress. There is a fight among Charan Das Mahant, Ajeet Jogi and Satyanarayan Sharma for the post in Chhattisgarh. The situation is similar in Madhya Pradesh,” said a BJP source.
The BJP also feels that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may end up benefitting it. “They are going to eat into the Congress votes in states like Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and even in segments in Chhattisgarh,” said the source.