New Delhi, March 17 :    New Delhi, March 17:  Deluged with reports that its cadre was demoralised ever since the Tehelka tapes claimed heavyweight casualties like former party president Bangaru Laxman, the BJP has initiated a series of confidence-building measures to 'restore its own credibility and regain their trust'. Senior leaders and ministers have been asked to address party meetings to expound the government's 'standpoint' on the exposé and the BJP has released a series of printed allegations in daily instalments against the Tehelka management and the wheeler-dealers who figure prominently in the tapes to show the operation as a 'con job'. But most interestingly, after distancing itself initially from the disgraced Laxman, who was shown accepting fat wads of currency notes in the video tapes, the BJP has changed tack and seems determined to cast its lot behind him. As Laxman completed 61 years today, the entire phalanx of top leaders, including 'acting' president Jana Krishnamurthy, general-secretary (organisation) Narendra Modi and treasurer V.P. Goyal, called on him. However, no minister, barring minister of state Munni Lal, dropped in. Lal is a Dalit, and sources maintained that the 'pressure' from the BJP's Dalit block not to 'unfairly victimise' Laxman for his alleged role in the undercover defence deal while many got away scot-free forced Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to rehabilitate the former chief, who was projected as the party's 'face of the oppressed masses'. Yesterday, over 40 BJP MPs, mostly Dalits, met Vajpayee and cautioned him that side-stepping Laxman might erode whatever base it had built among the backward classes. It was also pointed out that in the complex equation of 'social engineering', the Opposition may play up the charge that the BJP was all-too-willing to 'sacrifice' a Dalit but ready to fight for an upper caste official like Brajesh Mishra, also named in the tapes. The BJP also feared that the appointment of a Brahmin, Krishnamurthy, in Laxman's place may not go down well at the grassroots. However, more than the Dalit factor, BJP sources said disowning Laxman would amount to disowning the party itself. 'His involvement in the tapes is a very big and unprecedented thing because it is for the first time in the world that the president of a major political party has been shown accepting money on film. But if we wash our hands of him, it would amount to an endorsement of the deed he has committed and that is disastrous for the party. Therefore, we decided there was no question of disowning Laxman,' said the sources. Laxman seemed to have picked up the threads from where the Tehelka controversy had left them and said there was 'definitely a change for the positive' in the BJP's attitude towards him. When asked why no assurance was given if he would be reinstated in case the judicial inquiry exonerated him as in the case of defence minister George Fernandes, he told reporters: 'Fernandes' return was assured only to send a message to the Samata MPs who were feeling restless after he quit. I was a worker of the BJP and will continue to be a worker. Your question on whether I would be rehabilitated should be asked at the appropriate forum.'