The RSS had, in its recent conclave at Nagpur, suggested that separate strategies be framed to persuade Christians and Muslims that the Sangh Parivar was not anti-minorities. Vajpayee said today that the BJP respected all religions, but clarified that the party was opposed to coercive conversions.

Using the occasion to give a pep talk to party MPs, Vajpayee said that they should not lose heart after the reverses in the Assembly elections. The BJP lost the elections but the Congress could not take credit for that. ``We were defeated because of some shortcomings,'' he admitted.

Interestingly, he used the example of the 1984 BJP rout in this context -thereby indicating the extent of the party's demoralisation after the Assembly elections, which were seen as a referendum on his government. The BJP had managed to revive and reach the stage of being able to form a government now after winning only two Lok Sabha seats in 1984, he said.

Blaming the system for his government not being able to meet several commitments that it had made to the people, Vajpayee said that he had inherited the system and efforts had to be made to remove hindrances. The delays were not intentional nor due to bad policies, he said.

Admitting that his government had made mistakes - some due to lack of experience in governance - he exhorted MPs to go to their constituencies, work enthusiastically and publicise the government's achievements. ``In an enthusiastic atmosphere, small mistakes are covered up,'' he said.