Saturday, September 9 2006 14:28 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dehradun: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will go it alone in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections due next year, says a senior party leader.

"The BJP will contest the polls alone and field candidates for all the assembly seats," BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told sources in an interview.

Naqvi said the party is confident of springing a surprise.

"Wait and watch. The BJP will defy all poll estimates that currently say we are trailing," he said.

"We are sure of staging a comeback as there is a strong anti-incumbency factor against the ruling Samajwadi Party," Naqvi said.

"The Bahujan Samaj Party has lost its base in the state and a large number of its leaders are leaving the party as there is no future for them," Naqvi pointed out.

"We are strengthening the party at the grassroots level. Our leaders and activists are working overtime to prepare for the polls," Naqvi said.

Asked if the BJP would give more tickets to minority candidates, Naqvi said: "The BJP does not believe in giving tickets on the basis of religion. Whoever is a deserving candidate will be allowed to contest."

On the Vande Mataram controversy the BJP vice president said, "The controversy will in no way hurt the BJP's chances in Uttar Pradesh or elsewhere. Muslims do not have a problem in singing this song. In fact, the issue has once again cemented BJP's image of a nationalist party."

"The singing of the national song was not a political issue for us. It is an emotive issue and we are not trying to derive any political mileage out of it," Naqvi said.

"The assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and four other states - Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Manipur - will prove to be an eye opener for the UPA," he added.