Chennai: The BJP's (Bharatiya Janata Party) list of candidates for the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls would be announced by March 15, party president M Venkaiah Naidu, said today (Feb 26, 2004).

He told a press conference that the Central election Committee of the party would commence its sitting from March 10 to March 15 and would clear the list of candidates State wise from March 10.

He said the State election committees had been asked to submit their recommendations before March 5.

Asked whether the party would issue a separate manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, he said that there was no thinking in the party for issuing a separate manifesto. Instead a "vision document", containing the policies and programmes of BJP and their allies would be issued, he said.

Asked whether construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya and common civil code would be part of the document, he said the document would include only the items, which were acceptable to all allies and contentious issues would be avoided.

He said the BJP was for a Ram temple at Ayodhya, but it should be constructed only after mutual consultations and consent of all those concerned.

He was evasive to a question whether the AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) was part of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance)."We have entered into a seat sharing agreement with them. I can only say this," he said.

Venkaiah Naidu said the BJP had disproved the theory that Congress alone could attract the minorities and dalits. The attendance at the minority's rally at New Delhi, addressed by the Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and himself, was a proof that the minorities had started looking towards BJP, he said.

He unveiled a three-point programme for the betterment of BJP during the elections.

Enrolment of intelligentsia as the members of the party was one of the points, he said adding that if they were not willing to join the party, they should be encouraged to set up Vajpayee support committees in nooks and corners of the country, he said.

The party workers should spread out to minorities and woo them, he said.

He said his party was not for "appeasement" like the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who announced a half-day holiday on Fridays for schools to enable Muslim children to attend prayers at mosques.

Former test cricketer Navjot Singh Siddu, who joined BJP recently, was also present at the press conference and said he joined the party only because it was the hope for the future.

Asked whether he would contest the elections, he said he had not applied his mind on that so far.

He said he would fulfil his contract with Ten Sports to be a commentator for the Indo-Pak cricket series.