BJP seeks public views on 'chargesheet' against UPA

NEW DELHI: The BJP, which has decided to "crowd-source" inputs for its "chargesheet" against the Congress-led UPA government ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, is seeking suggestions from people through the virtual and real world.

Launching a new website www.bjp.org/upachargesheet to connect with people on the net, the BJP will use the views of the people, from a cross-section of society, to draw out its "chargesheet" with the theme-- the dark decade of malgovernance.

"This will not be the party's, but the people's chargesheet... We are making it people-centric," BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, who heads the sub-committee on chargesheet, told reporters here on Wednesday. This was one of the 20 odd panels formed under the leadership of Narendra Modi, the party's campaign committee chairman. Modi, one of the most social network savvy politicians in the country, has been inspiring the party to cash in on the power of the medium in the battle against the Congress in the run-up to elections.

In its bid to come out with a stinging list of allegations against the UPA, the chargesheet committee has identified corruption, price rise, maoist violence, unemployment and farmers suicides, among others, as the focus of its exercise. Besides using technology-- facebook, youtube, twitter, flickr, email and sms-the party is launching a "jan sampark" (direct contact with people) to source its document.

"We will not just sit in Delhi and make the chargesheet. In September we will be visiting four cities-Mumbai, Lucknow, Bangaluru and Guwahat-to meet people and get their views," said Gopinath Munde. The team, which includes Nirmala Sitharaman, Meenakshi Lekhi and Arti Singh, will also travel to various places in October before the chargesheet is finalized.