‘BJP states on terror radar’

The party is on the offensive and blamed the UPA govt for its lackadaisical attitude and failing to prevent terrorist attacks

NEW DELHI: Gandhinagar MP and leader of the Opposition LK Advani arrived in Ahmedabad on Sunday to review the situation after Saturday’s serial blasts.

Gujarat being the third consecutive BJP-ruled state, after Rajasthan and Karnataka, to face a terror attack, the party is on the offensive. It blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the UPA government at the Centre for the spread of terrorist outfits and their growing capability. At the same time, all BJP-ruled states have especially been put on high alert.

Officially, the BJP is yet to take a position on the attacks in states under its rule. Asked if he thought BJP-ruled states were being singled out, Advani said, “I cannot make a conclusion on that. It is a matter of probe by intelligence agencies.”

Other party functionaries tried to explain this as an indication of the fact that the BJP is seen as the greatest enemy by terrorists.

Conscious that the anti-terror performance of the police machinery in states with BJP governments has been like any other, they preferred to blame the failure of central intelligence.

The claims notwithstanding, the BJP’s stance and actions have been often interpreted in a way that suits Islamic terror outfits. The ‘Indian Mujahideen’ e-mails have repeatedly cited incidents and acts in states under BJP rule among the reasons for the attacks.

As on every earlier occasion, the latest bomb attacks were followed by the party demanding revival of Pota or a similar law.

BJP general secretary Sushma Swaraj said the greatest need of the time was revival of Pota to fight terror, more than the need for setting up a federal agency. She attacked Shivraj Patil for the government’s inability to check terrorism or bring terrorists to book, calling him the most incompetent home minister ever.

Earlier, Advani and party president Rajnath Singh blamed the lack of tough anti-terror laws and weak intelligence for the spate of serial blasts.

“It looks like our anti-terror legal framework is not up to the mark and it gets exposed,” Advani said.

He said after the abolition of Pota, Gujarat had adopted a Maharashtra-type anti-terror law which was awaiting presidential assent for four years. He demanded that both Gujarat and Rajasthan be allowed to go for such laws.

Rajnath too condemned the blasts and blamed the Centre. “Even after Afzal (Guru) was given death by SC (for the attack on parliament), he has not been hanged, boosting the morale of terrorists. No firm law has been framed yet. BJP is ready to join hands with the government to combat terrorism,” he said.

s_rajesh@dnaindia.net