“The route to New Delhi goes via Lucknow” : A.B. Vajpayee

Lucknow : “The route to New Delhi goes via Lucknow,” former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said in a reference to assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh scheduled for early next year as a three-day party conclave which concluded on Sunday saw the BJP returning to the strident Hindutva plank.

Addressing the national council, Vajpayee reminded party workers that the BJP’s “opponents are throwing challenges at us and the only way to shake them off was through working in unison”.

The NDA chairman said the outcome of the coming polls in four states was “pregnant with new possibilities” and exhorted the party to put its best foot forward with dedication and hard work to usher in changes. He said it was the workers’ prime duty to ensure that the BJP’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh underwent a change for greater glory at the national level.