Bangalore: The three-day National Executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got underway Friday in India's IT hub amid tight security and fanfare.

On the advice of astrologers, the inaugural session began at noon in a swank five-star hotel, with the Karnataka unit president G. Sadananda Gowda welcoming about 250 delegates.

These included prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, party president Rajnath Singh, vice presidents M. Venkaiah Naidu and Mukthar Abbas Naqvi as well as BJP chief ministers from seven states.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was the centre of attraction.

Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa made the opening remarks after the party's top leaders were garlanded and crowned with the famous Mysore headgear (petha) on the dais.

The pre-lunch inaugural session was confined to Rajnath Singh delivering the presidential address and the felicitation of Yeddyurappa for leading the party to power for the first time in Karnataka and south India. Star and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was absent from the meet.

Hours before the meeting began, the venue in downtown was cordoned off and vehicular traffic regulated through the busy thoroughfare to prevent choking, a common feature in the IT hub.

The police had deployed about 300 policemen in and around the venue.

About 500 party cadres and members of the BJP and related organisations have been pressed into service to coordinate various activities related to the three-day meeting.

The venue and surrounding areas have been decked up with the party's saffron-green flags, its lotus symbol, cloth banners and huge cardboard cutouts of its key leaders.

Only photographers and electronic media videographers were allowed for a photo shoot of the party leaders and delegates before the inaugural session got underway.

The executive is meeting to draw up winning strategies for the coming assembly polls in the BJP-ruled states and general election due early next year.

A party spokesman said that the party will discuss the India-US nuclear deal, inflation, price rise and internal security concerns.

Source : ians