NDA discusses anti-Sonia strategy

Top Bharatiya Janata Party and National Democratic Alliance leaders met in Delhi on Monday to discuss their role inside and outside Parliament in the changed political scenario and their stand in the event of Congress president Sonia Gandhi taking over as prime minister.

The leaders, including Lal Kishenchand Advani and NDA convener George Fernandes, met at BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu's residence for about 90 minutes and had an informal discussion about their role in the changed circumstances.

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They then went to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence to give final touches to their strategy.

"We had an informal discussions on the role of the BJP and their associates outside and inside Parliament and also our stand on important national issues, including Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin," BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in Delhi after the meeting.

Among those present at the meeting were Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh, Rajnath Singh, Arun Shourie, Kalraj Mishra, V K Malhotra and Nationalist Trinamool Congress leader P A Sangma.

Meanwhile, party sources said out-going Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj is likely to tonsure her head and sport a white sari as a mark of protest against Gandhi becoming the country's prime minister.