Before the BJP got down to the serious business of planning a poll victory for next year, first things first. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his party president Venkaiah Naidu took turns to lavish praise on each other. The BJP’s 27 key leaders are in Mumbai to chart the party’s new mandate with a Mission 2004 and it is clear that the first step is to buck up the cadres. Here, puran poli is food for thought Reshma Patil Mumbai, June 18 Thinking and planning all day from 10 am to 9 pm is a lot of hard work. So the BJP’s group of 27 led by the PM has plenty of local food for thought to keep them going. Calories don’t count when there is serious chintan calling. Soon after Vajpayee checked into his suite, the travel-weary leaders shared ideas over quite a feast. There was rasmalai, doodhi halwa, and dhokla to cheer up the main course of khepla and aloo mutter, said BJP sources. The meals are dished out by Royal Caterers, based in Borivali and now camping at the 15-acre Rambhau Mhalge Prabodhini Training and Research Academy at Bhayander. Moments before his inaugural address, the PM and Co. munched on spoonfuls of poha. The group has a hard time-table to adhere to. The closed-door dialogue starts at 10 am, breaks for half-hour lunch and tea breaks, with the final meeting ending between 8 pm to 9 pm. The schedule does not provide a break for Deputy PM L.K. Advani, who will fly down from London and drive to the venue at 1 am. Maybe they will keep some dinner warm for him. But compared to the lunch spread of puran poli, karela and bhindi he missed today, it’s rather frugal. He can choose from khichdi and zhunka bhakri. In his inaugural chintan baithak address to pump up his ‘‘army of workers with self-confidence and single-minded determination’’, Vajpayee put before them a fine example of devotion — the man who has recently surfaced from controversial statements over the PM’s leadership of the NDA. ‘‘I am astonished by his (Naidu’s) energy levels,’’ said Vajpayee. ‘‘If all functionaries and activists work with such enthusiasm, I have no doubt we shall overcome all challenges before us and march towards success.’’ Political power has an intrinsic quality of reducing public trust in rulers, he said, pinpointing trust as the most valuable asset the BJP has gained before and after coming to power. ‘‘It is trust that has brought us this far. We should ensure that the value of this asset grows, and does not diminish with time. Our conduct in government and as functionaries of the ruling party should be such as to neutralise this trust-eroding quality of power.’’ An official BJP statement on the PM’s address credited Naidu for ‘‘his tireless efforts to enliven the activities of the party’’ and put to rest all ‘‘unfounded controversy’’. Speaking immediately after the PM, Naidu — he also asserted the BJP’s pride in associating with the RSS — was in no way short of words. ‘‘In Atalji and Advaniji, we see the great qualities of Dr Shyamaprasad Mookherji and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. It is the good fortune of the BJP that we have a great leader in Atalji, whose popularity among people is growing even after five years in office,’’ he beamed. The PM’s speech began with a message to his men to ‘‘go among the people with self-confidence and explain to them what we have done in the past five years and what our vision for the future is.’’ In the same vein, Naidu called upon karyakartas to sing praises of the NDA Government and ask voters to compare it with the track-record of the Congress. And for Deputy PM L.K. Advani who will fly from London and drive straight to the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini institute at 1 am to participate in the introspective meet, the PM had a good word. ‘‘Not only is he a source of strength for me in the Government, but he also devotes a lot of his time and energy to guide the party in its work,’’ Vajpayee said.
