BJP National Council meet: Uri attack, poverty issues top on agenda

The Uri terror attack, which left 18 army men dead and triggered an outcry for punitive action against Pakistan, will be deliberated upon in the three-day BJP National Council meeting in which top party brass is also expected to articulate its 'garib kalyan' agenda to reach out to the mariginalised like Dalits and OBCs.

BJP President Amit Shah arrived here today for the meet, which starts on Friday and coincides with the birth centenary of its ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive here on Saturday and speak at a public meeting, his first such address after the attack in Uri.

He will address the Council on Sunday. Party leaders and cadres expect him to speak on Uri attack as the saffron outfit has been under fire over repeated incidents of Pakistani terrorists targeting defence facilities, more so as Modi had often flayed the UPA government over its alleged soft attitude to Pakistan in the face of terror incidents.

BJP National Secretary and Kerala in-charge H Raja told reporters that the party leaders will deliberate the Uri incident. The Uri attack has forced the party to recalibrate its agenda for the Council, likely to be attended by over 1,700 delegates, including all its chief ministers, all its union ministers and top brass from all states.

The party is likely to use the occasion to reprise the poor-centric ideology of Upadhyay, who was elected its president in 1967 at the same venue and whose 100th birth anniversary falls on September 25.

The party had earlier formed a committee under the leadership of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to prepare a garib kalyan (welfare of poor) agenda under which its state governments will be asked to achieve certain key objectives in various welfare schemes.

BJP believes that effective implementation of the agenda can help it reach out more to the marginalised sections, especially Dalits and OBCs, as it has been facing flak over Dalit issues from Opposition parties and some Dalit groups.

Raja also cited Upadhyay's thrust on 'antyodaya' (uplift of the last man) and the Centre's "pro-poor" schemes as he spoke about the Council's planned emphasis on welfare of poor. Modi on September 25 will inaugurate Upadhyay's birth centenary celebrations which will go on for over a year.

The party leadership is also expected to deliberate over assembly polls in several states scheduled for early next year, including in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.

BJP has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh for over 14 years and Shah has claimed that it will make a come back with two-third majority by trouncing formidable regional rivals like Samajwadi Party and BSP. Cases of violence against BJP and RSS functionaries in the Left-ruled Kerala are also expected to be referred to by the leadership which has blamed CPI(M) for these incidents.