It was Thakre's first press conference in the capital after taking over as party President seven months ago and he was on the defensive, as the media repeatedly questioned his attempts to pass the buck. In fact, the BJP's ``Central election statement'' seems more like the tirade of an Opposition party rather than a ruling party document. A major portion of the eight-page statement (released by Thakre this afternoon), is devoted to attacking the Congress, the BJP's principal rival in the four election states.

In effect, denying that voters should judge the BJP on the performance of the Government at the Centre, Thakre said that since it was acoalition, his party had not had the opportunity to demonstrate to the people what it was capable of. ``This is not a single-party government so people should not judge us,'' he said, rebutting the Congress's stand that the elections were a referendum on the Vajpayee government.

Although one of the three main planks of the BJP is ``decisive leadership'', (the others are ``nation-first politics'' and ``transparent governance''), Thakre admitted that the BJP-led government at the Centre was slow to react. ``The Centre takes long to act, there are delays. But this is because we have to consult our allies,'' he said,``You have to remember that this is a coalition government.''

The BJP's claim to transparent governance also came in for sharp questioning. Thakre defended the government's blocking of Union Minister Ram Jethmalani's efforts to promote transparency in his ministry. ``These things cannot happen overnight,'' he said. Grilled on the transfers of Income Tax officials and the Enforcement Director M KBezbaruah, all Thakre said was, ``The Centre made a mistake and admitted it. But our intentions are good.''

On prices, Thakre said that vested interests and the BJP's political opponents had hatched a ``conspiracy'' to defame the Centre. He also stated repeatedly that the main reason for shooting prices was the weather, ``over which we have no control''. Asked why the Centre had not taken steps like importing onions and banning its export earlier, he admitted that there had been a delay.

The statement blames the previous government for over-estimating last year's production of oilseeds, pulses and wheat; weather conditions for the steep rise in onion and potato prices; and the UF government's fiscal deficit for inflation.

Claiming to uphold the best traditions of secularism, the statement says that in contrast to the rioting and strife that marked the years of Congress rule, there had not been a single incident of communal violence after the BJP came to power.

On Pokhran II, Thakre said that it waspressure from the defence forces that persuaded the Centre to conduct the five tests. ``The Army was demoralised and insisted that the tests were necessary in order to modernise the forces, so that they could be prepared to face any agression,'' he said. The tests, he said, were a demonstration of the BJP's unshakeable commitment to national security.