Lucknow, Jun 1: Under the shadow of apparent differences between some of its top leaders, BJP top brass will meet here from tomorrow to chalk out the strategy for the 2012 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, where the party has lost its moorings over the years.
Senior leaders including former deputy prime minister L K Advani, party chief Nitin Gadkari, former presidents Rajnath Singh, M M Joshi and Venkaiah Naidu besides chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the meeting spread over four days.
Party leaders, however, did not rule out the possibility of the recent spat between Leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley - taking away some sheen from the proceedings.
"The meeting is the most important one, especially because of the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, besides Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.
"But as there is a controversy brewing in the party, it could become a dominant issue during discussions though it is unlikely to be taken up formally," a senior party leader said.
Party's state leadership has decided not to accept facilities from the Mayawati government as part of protocol to send a message that the BJP will not forge any electoral understanding with the ruling BSP with which it had formed government in the state twice.
BJP national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the party will go it alone in the Assembly elections early next year and accused its political opponents of playing caste politics which had dented its vote bank. "This time BJP will not experiment with any pre or post-poll alliance," he said.
In the last national working committee meeting in 2006, BJP leaders had been extended protocol by the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government and in the Assembly elections the following year, the party had fared badly as voters viewed it as BJP going soft on the Samjwadi Party.
BJP sources said the party's performance in the recent Assembly elections in five states will also come up for review at the meeting.
The party might discuss pros and cons of projecting a chief ministerial candidate in UP where the Assembly elections are considered crucial ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
To give an edge to its electoral campaign in the state, a separate resolution for amendment in the Land Acquisition Act is likely to be adopted at the meeting, they said, adding that strategy for cornering the BSP, Congress and SP on the issue of corruption would also be finalised.
The national office bearers will meet tomorrow, while the working committee will meet on June 3 and 4. A meeting of presidents and general secretaries of all state units and in-charges will be held on June 5. PTI
