NEW DELHI, 30 March 2008 — Bracing for parliamentary elections with Lal Krishna Advani as their prime ministerial candidate, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders met at his house yesterday to discuss their electoral strategy. The main purpose of the meeting was to review the performance of state governments where the NDA is in power. Except for Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, “all other ministers turned up at the meeting,” sources said.

The meeting was held “to review the NDA governments’ performance and discuss electoral strategy for the general elections,” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Prakash Javadekar said. Among other issues discussed at the meeting was the federal government’s recent announcement of a 600-billion-rupee farm loan waiver. Calling it an “eyewash,” they alleged that it would put a major burden on future governments. They also discussed the “discriminatory” attitude of the center toward opposition-ruled states. The government’s approach toward terrorism also figured in their discussions.

The seven chief minister who attended the meeting included Prakash Singh Badal (Punjab), Naveen Patnaik (Orissa), Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), B.C. Khanduri (Uttarakhand), Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Prem Kumar Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh). While Rajasthan was represented by minister Rajender Singh Rathore, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi stood in for Nitish Kumar, sources said.

The meeting was also attended by BJP President Rajnath Singh, NDA convener George Fernandes, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh, former Murli Manohar Joshi, Shiv Sena executive president Udhav Thackeray and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav. The meeting was called by NDA coordinator Suhsma Swaraj. The chief ministers of nine states ruled by NDA had held a similar meeting a few months ago, when they agreed to exchange notes on development related issues. In addition, their agenda yesterday was comparing their achievements with those of the Congress party and its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies. “Good governance is the issue,” Javadekar said.

While the BJP leadership considers Gujarat a “model state” for good governance, some NDA allies do not agree. “For us, Nitish Kumar’s government in Bihar, not Gujarat, is the role model,” a JD-U leader said.

In another development, the chief ministers of five mineral-rich states handed a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday questioning the government’s new mineral policy, which favors multinational companies (MNCs). Seeking the prime minister’s intervention to safeguard their interests, the chief ministers’ memorandum said: “The states’ right to select the best applicant (for mining rights) should not be compromised in the name of seamless transition or security of tenure and should not be usurped by the central government under any pretext.

“The government of India is anxious to promote free export of minerals in order to satisfy multinationals mining companies... If the policy is accepted as it is, it may result in a situation where a few MNC mining companies will acquire control of the vast mineral resources.…”

A task force should be constituted to delve into issues raised by them, prior to amending the Mines and Minerals- Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, the chief ministers demanded.

The signatories to the memorandum were chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Jharkhand, the only UPA-ruled state, as a signatory to the memorandum, was represented by its Water Resources Minister K.K. Singh.