Mahajan146;s back

As the BJP braced itself for the coming Assembly elections in four states, Pramod Mahajan here today reappeared from the sidelines where he ...

As the BJP braced itself for the coming Assembly elections in four states, Pramod Mahajan here today reappeared from the sidelines where he had been banished with his ouster from the A.B. Vajpayee Government.

Before concluding its two-day meeting, the BJP national executive placed him in charge of polls in all the four states.

One did not have to look far to guage how crucial the four states are for the BJP. Prime Minister Vajpayee had declared earlier: 8216;8216;The results of these elections would be decisive and would show the direction8217;8217; for the next Lok Sabha polls.

The national executive called upon the Government to provide free foodgrain to destitutes, expand mid-day meal-for-the-poor schemes and larger food-for-work programmes.

In order to endear itself to the trading class, the executive appealed to all state governments 8216;8216;to enter into a dialogue with the business community so as to remove their misunderstanding8217;8217; with regard to the value added tax 8216;8216;and also make amendments in legislation if any.8217;8217;

The national executive carried through an amendment in its constitution stipulating that a person would be able to seek a second term as president after a break of one or terms. Till now, the constitution barred a person from seeking a second term in the post.

Back to Mahajan, the party, apart from giving him an over-all charge of elections, assigned him Rajasthan in particular. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad, who shares a personal equation with him, would also assist him in the task.

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Three other general secretaries, Rajnath Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Sanjay Joshi, were allotted Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh respectively. From Amongst ministers, Yashwant Sinha was given Chhattisgarh, Arun Jaitley, MP, and Ananth Kumar was allotted Delhi.