Raising its battle against the UPA government to a new pitch, the BJP today called upon its six state governments to ‘‘quickly enact effective anti-terrorism state laws in case POTA is repealed’’ and promote population control measures with appropriate incentives and disincentives, including legislation if necessary. The BJP leadership also directed its governments in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Goa to ‘‘resist re-falsification of history textbooks by the UPA government’’ and introduce ‘‘value education’’ in state-run schools. At the conclusion of its two-day chief ministers’ conference, party president Venkaiah Naidu made it clear that a new twist was being given to the old ‘‘Centre versus states’’ paradigm with the BJP seeking to showcase its state governments as both ‘‘models of development’’ and as vehicles to pursue the party’s distinct ideology. The conference, the first of its kind for the BJP, adopted a Charter of Action for the state governments to follow, covering areas of security and law and order, strengthening of states’ finances, governance reforms, infrastructural and social sector development and agriculture. While most measures are in line with promises made in the party’s poll manifestoes, the decisions regarding anti-terror laws, school textbooks and population control measures were a direct result of the BJP’s larger battle against the UPA government. The population control measures, for instance, were clearly taken in the backdrop of the controversial Census figures released recently. The BJP initially raised an alarm over the ‘‘imbalance’’ in population growth, focussing more on the higher rate of Muslim growth. Subsequently, party leaders have expressed concern about the overall high rate of population growth and accused the ‘‘psuedo secular’’ parties of not taking it seriously only because of ‘‘vote bank’’ politics. As per the Charter of Action, state governments would promote measures for the ‘‘popularisation of the two-child norm uniformly among all sections of society.’’ In reply to questions, Naidu said ‘‘legislation’’ could be introduced if necessary. He said ‘‘incentives’’ meant that in government land allotments, for instance, those with two children would be given preference. In case there was ‘‘litigation’’ against such measures, a legislation could be brought in, he said, without going into details. On the question of textbooks, Naidu said state governments had been asked ‘‘to oppose the way Leftist ideology is being pushed through Red Guards.’’ Apart from resisting the ‘‘re-falsification’’ of history textbooks, the BJP-ruled states would also pursue the former HRD minister M M Joshi’s project of promoting yoga and value education in school. The thrust on ‘‘security and law and order’’ in the Charter of Action was amplified by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his concluding address to the conference. In a speech marked by his elliptical style, Vajpayee said for the BJP ‘‘the nation’s unity and integrity is paramount’’ and the country would not be allowed to be ‘‘partitioned again.’’ Vajpayee went on to say there were ‘‘internal threats’’ to the country’s unity and since law and order was a state subject, it was all the more necessary for the state governments to be alert on that front. He called for the strengthening of the police force and law and order machinery in the states. The former prime minister also said despite the election results, ‘‘the BJP has an important role to play’’. The party should be ready to bear ‘‘greater responsibilities’’ in the near future, he said, without elaborating on the time-frame. For the BJP to meet the ‘‘great expectations’’ of the people, it was incumbent for the six state governments to implement pro-people policies and perform well. ‘‘We cannot afford to fail. We must succeed,’’ Vajpayee said. Underlining the importance being attached to the image of its state governments following the party’s defeat in the general elections, Naidu also set up a five-member Task Force to monitor implementation of the Charter of Action and report to the president every six months. The Task Force will be headed by Yashwant Sinha, and its members are Arun Jaitley, Arun Shourie, Sudheendra Kulkarni, and former Delhi Lt Governor Vijai Kapoor.
