Will the opposition stand up?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img align="left" src="/photo/708780.cms" alt="/photo/708780.cms" border="0" />The dust has settled down. UPA members are all set to take the Treasury seats. And the BJP, after a six-year romance with power, will sit in the Opposition. Who will lead the party''s campaign? Will it stick to the NDA agenda? How will it respond to issues close to its heart? Here is an assessment of the party''s attempts to summon up firepower for the new Lok Sabha session beginning this week.<br /><br />For BJP, the feel good factor is history.It''s been "feel bad" ever since the results pushed it onto the ropes. Battered and bruised, it is struggling to regroup for a counter-offensive on Manmohan Singh and his United Progressive Alliance. <br /><br />Its first salvo — raising the foreign origin issue — was quickly shot down by Sonia Gandhi''s renunciation of the top post. Now, it is scanning the political landscape for ammunition to chip away at the fledgling government. <br /><br />However, it didn''t have to look too far. The appointment of four chargesheeted RJD MPs — including railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav — has given the party fresh fodder. The campaign against the "tainted" ministers may just be what the doctor ordered. <br /><br />What the party lacks, though, is a gameplan. And the right commanders to execute it. As national executive member and BJP''s economic expert Jagdish Shettigar puts it, "We will try and project ourselves as a party of governance and leave it to VHP and other RSS organisations to highlight the Hindutva cause." <br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Here are a few issues close to their heart, on which the backroom boys would be working overtime: <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Hindutva and Ayodhya </span><br /><br />This agenda remains the trickiest. Should BJP stick to the NDA line even in Opposition or return to the Hindutva agenda? <br /><br />Former BJP parliamentary party spokesperson V K Malhotra concedes that there are two diametrically opposite views within the party: "One group feels that even though Muslims did not vote for BJP, the gap is narrowing and the party must make a renewed effort to work among the minorities, scheduled castes and tribes, and in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">jhuggi jhopris</span>. The other group is clear that Muslims are not going to join us come what may, so it is better to concentrate on national pride and patriotism." <br /><br />Interestingly, some BJP leaders and former ministers — including party president Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Yashwant Sinha — feel the party should work within the framework of the NDA agenda. However, on the three core issues of Ayodhya, the common civil code and the demand for abrogation of Article 370, opinion is calibrated. On Ayodhya, the party''s view is unanimous. BJP will press for the continuation of negotiations to solve the problem as it thinks it will lead to a more lasting solution. But the party maintains it will not organise any campaign for the construction of the temple. It will leave that task to the VHP. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Common civil code </span><br /><br />Jaitley feels, in line with the Vision Document, BJP should pitch it as "gender justice". The idea is to highlight the fact that NDA had ended many discriminatory laws. But the party does realise it doesn''t have the numbers to push any legislation in Parliament. <br /><br />Kashmir and Indo-Pak talks <br /><br />The party''s response to Article 370 is guided by its stint in government. It says as an ideological concept, Article 370 must go. "But the government must first address cross-border terrorism and continue the dialogue with Pakistan against the backdrop of public opinion," says Naidu. The party takes pride in Vajpayee''s "composite dialogue" with Pakistan and the Hurriyat. Party general secretary Mukthar Abbas Naqvi adds, "We offered Pakistan honest friendship, and if the new government follows the line, we will not oppose them. We will be a responsible Opposition. For Congress, it will be a big responsibility. It is in power, both at the Centre and in Kashmir." <br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Terror laws </span><br /><br />There''s one clear voice on Pota. "If the UPA tries to repeal it, we''ll oppose it tooth and nail," says Malhotra. Pota was a "showpiece" legislation for BJP for which it called a joint session of Parliament. Naqvi feels, "If Pota is repealed, the message will be clear. This is a terrorism-friendly government. If a law is misused, it''s not reason enough to end it."<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Re-writing textbooks </span><br /><br />The question of rewriting history textbooks is not an issue, on which the party will relent at all. It was supposed to be one of NDA''s biggest success stories and it won''t let the issue die. Says Malhotra: "If references derogatory to Sikhs, Jats and Jains are reintroduced or the subject of beef-eating by early Hindus included again, we won''t tolerate it." <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Disinvestment </span><br /><br />The Sangh Parivar is divided on the issue of disinvestment. While one group is closer to the UPA stance, the other opposes it. Yashwant Sinha and Jaitley feel that making a distinction between loss-making and profit-making PSUs makes no sense. The government needs to get out of non-strategic areas. Therefore, it makes no sense to wait till profit-making units start making losses. <br /><br />Naidu and Malhotra share a more moderate view. They feel there should be competition between the private and public sectors and workers'' interests should not be forgotten. However, the party will look for differences between the Left parties and Congress on disinvestment. "That''s when we will leap in," declares Naqvi.</div> </div>