Babulal Gaur

New Delhi, Sept. 14: As Uma Bharti weaved her way across Maharashtra during her tiranga yatra on Sunday, her successor in Bhopal, Babulal Gaur, was among six BJP chief ministers attending a lecture on development and good governance by trade and industry representatives here.

The BJP, aware that it suffers from an image problem ? many see it as a party propagating fundamentalism, invited Confederation of Indian Industry and Federation of Indian Commerce and Industry members to address its chief ministers on how to provide good governance and develop their states.

Asked why the CII and Ficci were called in, a BJP source said: ?They are big bodies of trade and industry. We invited them to understand their thoughts and to get their suggestions to take the states to the path of development.?

He said, among other things, the representatives ?wanted atmosphere? in the state (for investment) but would not elaborate.

Ficci made a general presentation while CII gave state-specific presentations. Both organisations stressed the need for good governance.

The federation promised targeted investment promotion for the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Rajasthan, saying it entailed image building, investor-friendly policies and investor facilitation.

CII and Ficci officials downplayed their good governance advice to the chief ministers, but BJP sources said some of the officials had, during informal interaction, suggested that the party adopt a more business-like attitude in Parliament.

They said blocking important bills would hurt national interest.

Asked if the CII expressed concern at the prolonged stalemate in Parliament, Harsh Srivastva, a member of the organisation, denied having given any Parliament-related advice to the BJP.

?BJP wanted a state-wise analysis of the performance of their respective governments. We gave a presentation on some common issues and some specific issues,? he said.

Ficci?s focus was on agriculture, public-private partnership, infrastructure and health care.

The experts suggested a four-fold approach to attract investment ? an investment-friendly fiscal framework, adequate social and physical infrastructure, improvement in procedures and regulations and reduction in bureaucratic delays (a single-window clearance mechanism.