New Delhi: The BJP can learn a few things from the Left parties, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has said.
In a rare praise of the Marxists, Vajpayee has said the BJP should learn from them the art of getting re-elected to power and admitted there was "something lacking" in his government which led to its defeat in the last Lok Sabha polls.
"It is true that the way communist parties are moving ahead fast; we should not ape them, but we should learn the art of getting renewal of mandate for our government. It is a great test to get back in power," he said in a valedictory address to the recent party national executive, the highlights of which have been published in the new issue of party organ BJP Today.
"We may go on repeating hundred times that the NDA government performed well. There is no doubt we indeed did well, yet something was lacking. The people praised our work but did not renew their mandate to rule," the former Prime Minister is quoted as having said.
Interestingly, these excerpts were not released to the media immediately on the conclusion of the national executive on May 30.
Vajpayee said the party must resolve to retain power in the states it was ruling and should work out a strategy for it. Pointing out that BJP was running coalition governments in alliance with other political parties in some states, he said: "Strengthening a coalition government without weakening our own self is a difficult task. We should ponder over it as well."
In an apparent reference to the exit of senior leaders like Uma Bharti, Babulal Marandi and Madan Lal Khurana from the party, Vajpayee said: "Some people are leaving the party. Though they are not many yet they are leaving. We should introspect about it. We are ready to suffer any setback if there is no other way out, but losing someone from our ranks is a big loss to us."
There was an urgent need to get ready to move ahead with a sense of mutual affection and cooperation. "Whatever problems may arise we will face them collectively," he said.
The former Prime Minister said the success of its party's governments would depend on "how we behave with each other and what kind of people we take along."
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