Quote:Jammu, Feb 10 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP today got a shot in the arm with about 60 members of Gujjar community from across the state joining the party.



Welcoming the new entrants into the party fold, state BJP president Shamsher Singh Manhas said the outfit has always promoted workers who are committed to its principles and policies.



Stating that BJP represents true picture of secularism and nationalism, Manhas accused Congress and other regional parties of indulging in appeasement of a particular faith for vote bank politics.

Quote:NEW DELHI: A hundred “volunteers” — young technocrats from the corporate world – here on Monday swore allegiance to the cause of hindutva.



Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari “received” the free services of the volunteers wearing orange T-shirts.



Sanjay Kaul, who set up the United Volunteers Association, said at the outset that his association was inspired by the principles dear to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and his organisation was interested in furthering the hindutva ideology.



After the BJP's 2009 Lok Sabha defeat, a large number of party supporters were despondent and wanted to do something to get the right message to the people on what the hindutva party was all about, Mr. Kaul said.



As the 100 men and women got on to the stage at Mavlankar Hall to take their oath of allegiance to the BJP, Mr. Gadkari and the former RSS spokesperson, M.G. Vaidya, looked on.



Mr. Gadkari repeated what the senior party leaders had been saying for the past two decades: the BJP was not anti-Muslim or anti-minority; it believed in “justice for all, appeasement for none”; and it was the “pseudo-secularists posing as liberals,” who were painting the BJP as a right-wing fundamentalist group.

Quote:Uma, BJP must join forces



Sudhansu R Das



Had the Sangh Parivar taken the initiative to get the BJP’s stalwarts on the same page before the last Lok Sabha election, the UPA would not have returned to power. Senior BJP leader LK Advani has admitted it was the disunity among party leaders that led to the BJP’s defeat. Over the years, BJP leaders have been quoting historical facts to explain the lack of unity among Hindus, which they say is the source of misery in our society. But they too have fallen victim to the same disease.



Both the BJP and its former leader Uma Bharati wasted seven precious years in trying to decide if they should unite for a common cause. This exemplifies the fact that the Sangh has failed to convince the people that Hindutva is synonymous with universal brotherhood. Whereas, the BJP has hardly succeeded in countering the malicious campaign of its opponents who have unjustly tried to equate Hindutva with communalism.



The absence of Govindacharya has been extremely costly for the BJP. The former was one of the key strategists of the party. Govindacharya was relegated to oblivion due to the BJP’s dilution of political integrity. Being a cadre-based party, this is something that the BJP can ill-afford.



Politics of convenience is something that the RSS cadre, who have given their blood and sweat for the BJP’s growth, can never endorse. Ms Bharati enjoyed the backing of the RSS cadre due to her clean image. When she first came to Bhopal she was up against huge odds. Then Chief Minister Digvijay Singh had turned the State into an impregnable fortress for the Congress. But Ms Bharati, with the support of the RSS, was able to breach this fortress. She comprehensively exposed the Chief Minister’s lies about development in the State. As a result, Ms Bharati was able to win a thumping majority and become the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.



But the fire-brand sadhvi did have her shortcomings. She was too quick to judge her party colleagues in the BJP. She should have realised that she was part of a political party and not a sat sangh. She and the BJP must come together to give the country the political direction it needs.

Quote:BJP fortifies itself, crushes Opp in Bangalore civic polls

pioneer.com

Kestur Vasuki | Bangalore

Yeddyurappa ends 50 years of Cong dominance

It is another feather in Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa’s cap. For the first time in the State’s political history, the BJP has ended five decades of Congress dominance and captured the prestigious Bangalore Corporation and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).



The State went to polls on March 28 and about 46 per cent of the city’s 6.6 million voters turned up to cast their ballots for electing 198 representatives from over 1,300 candidates to run the Greater Bangalore City Corporation.



The result is seen as a personal victory for Yeddyurappa and has given him a boost to fight his critics both inside and outside the party. The demolition of the JD(S) is a major blow to former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, who had launched a vicious campaign against the State Government on the issue of Bangalore and Mysore road project. The result is also a blow to a handful of BJP dissidents and has sent out a strong message that Yeddyurappa was the undisputed leader of the party in Karnataka.



Of the 198 BBMP seats, the BJP won 112 seats, followed by the Congress’ 64 seats and 15 by the JD(S) and seven independents. In addition to the 198 corporators, 52 elected members — MPs, MLAs and MLCs — have voting rights in the mayoral polls. The BJP has 31 of these 52 members, including 17 MLAs in the BBMP jurisdiction. The Congress has 10 MLAs and the JD(S) one.



Talking to the media in Bangalore, a jubilant Yeddyurappa said Bangaloreans voted the BJP because of the State Government’s good work. He said the BJP capturing the BBMP was a “fitting reply” to the Opposition Congress and JD(S), adding that the verdict has “silenced critics”