BJP to issue Vajpayee appeal to poll-bound states

The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to come out with an appeal from its veteran leader Atal Behari Vajpayee on Tuesday, for use in the three poll-bound states.

"Vajpayee will issue an appeal to the voters of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh on behalf of BJP. Our spokesperson Prakash Javadekar and I will call on him in this regard," BJP election in-charge Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told PTI.

Naqvi said though he was still not aware of what the appeal would be, the probability of a letter from the veteran leader to the electorate could not be ruled out. In some of the recent elections, Vajpayee has issued appeals to the voters through letters and a section of the party still swears by the sway he has among the people.

The appeal will include old clippings of Vajpayee's speeches (both audio and video), sources said. Vajpayee, 85, is suffering from heart-related ailments.

The BJP had centered the Lok Sabha poll campaign around its Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani but it did not cut much ice with voters as the party was reduced to 116 seats from 138 in 2004.

Vajpayee's appeal is likely to mention the steps taken by the National Democratic Alliance government led by him for Maharashtra, Haryana and the special packages for development of North-East states including Arunachal Pradesh.