BJP has not abandoned Hindutva, says Naidu

The saffron party also would not give up its policy of broadening its support base by seeking to woo minorities, dalits and other depressed sections.

Not wanting to be seen as contradicting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu sought to suggest in an exclusive interview to PTI that Gujarat violence may not be the reason for the party's debacle in the general elections.

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"BJP has not abandoned and will not abandon its ideology. Hindutva is not an electoral issue but a way of life and we are proud of it. Unfortunately, there are forces in the country who are portraying Hindutva as communal for their narrow political ends.

"The Supreme Court has also said Hindutva is the basic identity of India and there is no question of being apologetic. Our workers will be interacting with the people to remove any such wrong perception," he said when asked if dilution of its ideology had cost the party dearly.

The BJP chief also asserted that the party's campaign against "pseudo-secularists will be intensified in the coming days as all of them have joined under the banner of UPA."

He also pointed out that NDA had won the 1999 polls though its manifesto did not refer to Ayodhya or other pet Hindutva issues while the party lost in 2004 despite these issues finding mention in the alliance agenda.

The BJP Chief maintained that the party had "excellent relationship with all nationalist organisations" and "we will continue to maintain good relations with the RSS."

Declining to comment on Vajpayee's statement in Kullu that the violence in Gujarat had its impact on the poll results, he said "We will be discussing all aspects. We had swept the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh after what happened in Gujarat."