BJP extends chintan baithak by a day

The Bharatiya Janata Party has extended its most crucial chintan baithak by one day, beginning in Goa from Friday evening. It would be now concluded on August 2.

The BJP leaders appear to be quite serious about the baithak as the meeting began as soon as most of the leaders, excluding Pramod Mahajan and Vijaya Raje Scindia, arrived in Panaji at the Goa International Centre.

Even the dinner on a river cruise, hosted by the ruling state BJP, was cancelled at the last minute due to time constraints.

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Though none of the leaders were available for any kind of comment, BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told a group of journalists that the 32-member group would only discuss and not decide anything.

Naqvi neither confirmed nor denied that discussion on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's ouster, as suggested earlier by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, would continue also in Goa. The issue was pushed under the carpet at the national executive meeting held in Mumbai last month.

"We will discuss all the related issues pertaining to our strengths and weaknesses," he said, evading a direct reply.

On the BJP's agenda would be learning from the national verdict, strenghtening the party ideology, analysing the political situation, highlighting failures of the UPA government and consolidating the ruling states.

The task ahead paper circulated at the recent Mumbai BJP national executive will also be discussed here.