BJP brushes up poll strategy, rules out stars

Naqvi replied in the negative when asked if any Bollywood stars will be roped in. ‘‘We will have no Khan or Sundari in the campaign,’’ Naqvi said in an obvious reference to reports suggesting that Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee may canvass for BJP candidates. He said: ‘‘We have not approached any stars. The BJP views elections as a serious affair, not as entertainment.’’

As for the participation of actors like Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and Hema Malini, Naqvi said Sinha and Khanna were Union ministers, while Hema Malini has been associated with the BJP for quite some time. ‘‘The involvement of film artistes would make the exercise non-serious,’’ he said.

The BJP, according to him, will highlight the achievements of the Vajpayee Government and the failures of Congress governments in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Asked if the elections, in that case, will be a referendum on the performance of the Central Government, Naqvi ducked the question. Ram temple and Hindutva, being ‘‘non-political issues’’, will not be poll issues, he said.

As for the possibility of the BSP aligning with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Naqvi said it ‘‘did not worry the BJP. It is not for the first time that MP Chief Minister Digvijay Singh will be aligning with the BSP. He had a covert understanding with it in the last Assembly elections too. In any case, it shows that the Congress is sensing defeat’’.

The BJP will go it alone. ‘‘We don’t need any crutch,’’ he declared. Asked why the party had aligned with the BSP in UP earlier, Naqvi maintained that UP was different. On allotment of tickets to family members of important leaders, the BJP leader said: ‘‘There is no hard and fast policy. If a name of a leader’s family member is recommended by a state election committee, we would consider it.’’