PANAJI: The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar, in his capacity of the convenor of the national governance cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party, will soon commence his activities by preparing a governance agenda for states ruled by the BJP government,

with a related convention of the chief ministers of such states, scheduled to be held next month. The national party president, Mr Nitin Gadkari, Mr Lal Krishna Advani and Mr Arun Jaitley are expected to participate in the convention.
It may be recalled that the BJP had created the good governance cell to promote good governance. The cell was recently revived as part of a range of reforms the party has been ushering in since losing last year’s general election - its second consecutive defeat in the five-yearly polls. The cell was earlier headed by Mr Vijay Kapoor, the former lieutenant governor of Delhi, but became dormant allegedly after his spat with the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Ms Uma Bharti.
The BJP is currently in power in five states namely, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, where it enjoys a majority of its own, while in five other states - Punjab, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Uttrakhand and Bihar - it shares power with other alliance partners.
As part of finalising good governance agenda, the national governance cell of the BJP will organise a conference of the chief ministers and senior ministers from these states, seeking to improve their functioning and refurbish the party’s image. The meet is tentatively scheduled for June 5 and 6, in Pune with Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in-charge of the organisation.
Speaking to the pressmen, Mr Parrikar confirmed that a conference is on the anvil, but added that a detailed schedule was yet to be finalised. Mr Parrikar also said that the cell would help BJP state governments learn from each other. “It is certainly not a move to deliberate on centre-state relations, but all things that influence good governance would be discussed, which also includes better conduct,” he added.
The party stated that the June meeting will also help BJP state governments take a co-ordinated stand on issues to be raised with the centre. “On issues like GST (goods and services tax) and others, there is a need to fine-tune our stand so that none of our states are singled out,” the largest opposition party in the country maintained. GST may take effect from April 1, 2011 across India.
Meanwhile, Mr Parrikar has already begun his homework on this matter, and met some of the chief ministers of the BJP ruled states. He is soon scheduled to meet the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr B S Yeddyurappa.
A number of BJP leaders from Goa are expected to attend the Pune meeting.