BJP almost pulled out

NEW DELHI: On the eve of the NIC meeting, the BJP was in a quandary whether to attend it or stay away in protest for not including terrorism in the agenda.

Finally, the proponents of a walkout were reduced to a minority at a meeting of NDA partners on Sunday. BJP sources said some leaders led by M Venkaiah Naidu and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje mooted the walkout idea. But it did not find favour with a sizable number of party leaders and was later shelved.

The first BJP leader to oppose the idea was former union minister Sushma Swaraj, followed by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. Modi did not address the NIC meeting, but vehemently opposed a walkout. He suggested the NDA attend the conference, register protest and strongly state its point of view.

The deliberations went into late night as chief ministers from BJP- and NDA-ruled states kept arriving. Some senior BJP leaders confabulated with the late arrivals on phone to elicit their view on the subject. Himachal Pradesh’s PK Dhumal was categorically opposed to a walkout, so were Bihar and Orissa CMs Nitish Kumar (JD-U) and Naveen Patnaik (BJD).

Patnaik, facing flak for his government’s failure to contain violence against Christians and tribals, wanted to use the opportunity to corner the Centre for “not adequately helping the state”.