NEW DELHI, Nov 26: A crucial meeting of the Coordination Committee of the BJP and its allies has been called here on November 29, a day after the results of the Assembly elections in four states. To dispel doubts over mid-term polls and political regrouping after the BJP's poor showing in Delhi and Rajasthan, its leaders are hoping to project a united front at the meeting.To counter the expected onslaught from Opposition parties in the winter session of Parliament (beginning on November 30), the meeting will also try to ascertain the views of all allies so as to formulate a common stand on major issues. Convenor of the Committee George Fernandes is learnt to have contacted more difficult allies like J Jayalalitha and Mamata Banerjee in advance to ensure that they attend the meeting.The BJP was at pains today to deny the possibility of mid-term elections following Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's statement yesterday that mid-term polls could not be ruled out. Vajpayee's reference to a snap poll wasonly a passing one, BJP vice president K L Sharma said today.He also said that the outcome of the Assembly elections would not have any impact on Vajpayee Government as it did not ``affect the numbers'' at the Centre. ``There is no question of any mid-term poll,'' he said.Exit polls and poll surveys were not necessarily always correct, Sharma said. But he also stressed that the results of the elections would not have any impact on the Central Government. When the Congress was in power at the Centre, it had lost elections in various states including major ones like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar but this had not been seen as a verdict against the Central government.Trying to minimise the exit polls prediction that the BJP would lose power in Delhi and Rajasthan, Sharma said that even if these surveys turned out to be correct, the Congress would emerge as a loser as it would be losing two states - Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh - which account for 370 seats against 270 in Delhi and Rajasthan.He said the exitpolls proved only one point, that the incumbency factor had played a major role in deciding the fate of the parties in the elections.Echoing the BJP line, one of its staunchest allies, the Samata Party, said today that the results of assembly elections could not be a reflection on the performance of the Central Government.While admitting that price rise could be one of the reasons that the BJP had fared badly in the Assembly elections, Samata general secretary Jaya Jaitley ruled out chances of a political realignment. The chief cementing factor of the coalition was the anti-Congress stand of the partners, she pointed out.Taking a dig at the BJP's failure to come to a pre-poll understanding on seat-sharing with all but one of its allies, she said that if the BJP, Samata Party and other coalition partners had fought the elections together, they would have definitely made some difference to the final outcome.Jaitly said that the exit poll results were not very encouraging for the Congress either asthey predict that the party would lose power in two states, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram.
