Naidu praises Jaswant, says economy will be poll plank

For the first time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive, the apex decision making body of the party, showered special praise on Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh for concessions announced by him for different sections of society, which "enhanced" the feel-good factor in the economy.

In a clear departure from the unwritten code of not mentioning individual ministers' performance at the executive meetings, BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu said: "I congratulate Jaswant Singh for his bold set of announcements early this week, giving a boost to many sectors of the economy".

"The finance minister deserves special praise for announcing a Rs 50,000 crore fund for the infrastructure projects, including rural infrastructure," Naidu said in his inaugural address at the executive.

Naidu's opening remarks today clearly indicated a power-shift in the BJP where Singh was clubbed with the big two - Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani - in terms of importance.

This is significant in view of the fact that the BJP is determined to make political capital out of the government's economic performance in the next Lok Sabha elections.

But Naidu's remarks confirmed that the Lok Sabha polls would be held sooner than the later even though the executive avoided discussing the issue formally.

But BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan stirred a controversy by his remarks that the possible date for elections could be March-April.

Naidu, however, gave a clarion call to party workers to be prepared for polls and reach out to minorities to dispel their fear about the BJP because of the propaganda of the adversaries.

"Cross the mental barrier of hesitation, vote for the BJP and strengthen Atal's leadership," Naidu remarked.

Harping on the "tallness and wider acceptability of Vajpayee," Naidu described the Prime Minister as the BJP's "biggest asset" and said Vajpayee proved to be a "great unifier" and exemplary practitioner of the coalition dharma.

The obvious political implication of Naidu's speech is to make a determined attempt to bring even "sceptic social groups" to the BJP's fold in the name of Vajpayee.

Underlining the importance of the potential of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Naidu said the party benefited immensely from the "chintan baithak" -an interactive session between the RSS and the BJP - in Mumbai last year.

That the party will bring into sharp focus the contrast between the Congress and the BJP is evident by the slogan coined by him, "their 50 years versus our five years".

At the same time, Naidu hinted that the BJP would not be shy of making Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin issue during the election campaign.