New Delhi: Targeting 300 seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is working on an aggressive multi-fold strategy to expand its base and spread awareness about the party's ideology on national issues besides making Vajpayee government listen to needs and grievances of party cadres.

As part of the strategy, the BJP is chalking out plans to reach out to North East, South, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands through a membership-recruitment drive and using the central government to alleviate problems of these regions.

The party is getting a Minister of State each appointed soon to specially look after the interests of North East, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"In the coming days, focus of BJP will be on South, North East, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In these areas, we find a lot of opportunity to grow, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu said in an exclusive interview.

He said the party would soon start recruiting youngsters in these areas at Lok Sabha constituency level so that they would start working in run up to the 2004 general elections.

The initiation of talks process by the Vajpayee government with insurgent groups National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Issac/ Muivah (NSCN-IM) of Nagaland and Bodo Liberation Tigers of Assam is going to be used by BJP to get a foothold in the North East, Naidu said.



Citing his trip to Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya during electioneering recently, Naidu said "belying the perception that BJP has no acceptance in the North East, the people there have confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"This has been strengthened by the Central government's initiative to hold talks with Naga and Bodo insurgent groups," he added.

In an effort to boost this confidence, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will soon appoint a "Guardian Minister" with the rank of Minister of State to exclusively look after the affairs of the North East, he said.

"I have discussed the matter with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and a final shape is being given to this move," Naidu said. Similarly, a minister each would be appointed exclusively for Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The BJP is going to set up three arrangements – 'sahyog', 'samvad' and 'samarpan' – at the party headquarters to address grievances of the party workers and others and infuse energy in the cadres.

PTI