Indore, Feb 17 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday began a three-day meeting of its national leadership, with new president Nitin Gadkari asserting that the party was not weak and unveiling a new agenda that includes Dalit welfare.

Accepting that there were some deficiencies and weaknesses in the party that led to its defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Gadkari said in a speech at the inaugural of the national executive: 'We need not feel that we are weak. We are ruling in nine states and have more than 100 MPs and 1,000 MLAs.'

Promising new energy and renewed vigour, Gadkari said: 'A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is finished when he quits.'

Including Dalit issues in the party's agenda, Gadkari said: 'The issue of untouchability is a part of our political commitment.'

Several party leaders -- from among the 5,000 delegates -- who attended the session were of the view that this was an indication that the BJP was no longer content to be tagged as a party of middle class urban voters.

With the Feb 13 Pune bombing casting a shadow, tight security was evident at the sprawling tented township called Kushabhau Thakre Nagar, 10 km away from Indore city.

Prominent BJP leaders attending the meeting included former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, as well as BJP chief ministers from Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.

This is also the first meeting of the BJP national executive and national council since Gadkari was named the new president after Rajnath Singh in December. He formally took charge this month.

'We need to expand our base. Dalits are an important constituency and a neglected one too. No national party has taken up their cause in big way on sustained basis. We are going to do that in days to come,' a senior BJP leader who attended the inaugural session told IANS.

He said the party was completely opposed to untouchability and emphasised that the focus on Dalit issues was not for electoral gains.

In what could be seen as a clear political strategy to woo Dalits, Gadkari compared Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar with Martin Luther King Junior.

Both, the newly appointed president said, fought for the rights of the downtrodden. Ambedkar played an instrumental role in bringing social justice to Dalits, Gadkari added.

'There is a need to rise above the vote bank politics to tackle terrorism in the country,' he said, criticising the central government for going ahead with talks with Pakistan. 'These talks are being conducted under the pressure of the US.'

He added: 'National security is a cause of concern.'

Gadkari also instructed party leaders not to go to the media, saying only those authorised to speak to journalists should do so.

Setting an inspirational tone, he called upon party workers and leaders to have big hearts and said they should not demand respect but command it.

'Each and every worker of the party should work with big hearts. We should have a united face.'

According to him, every worker of the party 'should think seriously whether his own political career is more important' than the party or its principles.