After a three-day brainstorming session,BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Friday said L K Advani will continue to lead the party and gave clear signals that dissent and indiscipline will not be tolerated. He said the 'chintan baithak' discussed the Lok Sabha poll debacle but no one was held "accountable or responsible" for the defeat. "If someone is to be held accountable,I take responsibility for the defeat," Singh told a press conference at the end of conclave of top party leaders. At the outset even before the press conference began,he was asked whether Advani will continue to lead the party. "Yes,he will continue to lead the party," he replied. Asked about RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat favouring younger leadership in the party,Singh said the BJP has been inducting fresh blood for a long time. "We have been doing it all the time." Asked if it was a snub to RSS chief,he just laughed away the suggestion. On ideological deviation against the backdrop Jaswant Singh episode,he said "the political ideology and thought on the basis of which the party was found,we will stick to it now and continue to do so in future. Our ideology is non-negotiable." To a question about criticism aired in public by leaders like Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and whether action would be taken against them,Singh said,"What I have done,you have seen it.There will be no compromise on indiscipline." Singh was apparently referring to the action taken against Jaswant Singh and the insistence on Vasundhara Raje to step down from the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly. Asked about Advani's remarks in the meeting that internal bickerings have demoralised cadre,he said the senior leader wanted that wherever there was infighting,it should be put to an end. He said Advani was in a "jolly mood" today before delivering his valedictory address. The BJP cheif again denied the existence of a note purportedly prepared by a three-member committee headed by Bal Apte and said those who were given the responsibility had "just taken notes in their diaries" and no draft was prepared. He said the 'chintan baithak' decided to prepare an action plan which will be a "Road Ahead" for the party. "The plan will be put before the National Executive for approval which will meet either in September or October," he said. The draft plan will be formulated in a meeting of General Secretaries and prominent leaders of the party in the national capital,he said. The top leaders also decided to prepare an 'Action Plan' to expand the party's geographical and social base. "The Action Plan aims at bringing minority,backward classes,SC,ST,women,youth and socially weak sections.We want to project ourselves as pro-poor,pro-farmer,pro-village and pro-middle class," he said. Being the major opposition party,he said BJP should be taken into confidence in major national issues. "We are with the government on the issue of terrorism. We want to play a role of a constructive opposition," Singh said. He said the country was heading towards bi-polar polity but Third Front remained a stumbling block. On the Lok Sabha election,he said,"Congress and UPA benefited from the hype created by Third Front." The 'chintan baithak' expressed serious concern over the drought in several parts of the country and decided to sent party workers for drought relief operations.
