BJP renews demand for Patil's ouster

NEW DELHI: Contending that law and order has deteriorated in the national capital, BJP on Saturday renewed its demand for resignation of Home Minister Shivraj Patil, holding him squarely responsible for the current situation.
    
"If the Home Minister cannot stop terrorist incidents in Delhi... if he cannot stop crimes against women... he has no right to hold on to his post and should resign," demanded BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra.
    
"We have raised this issue in the Lok Sabha following terrorist attacks and I want to repeat that he should resign," he said in an interactive session christened 'Women security -- How safe are we?' organised by the BJP state unit.
    
Malhotra rued that despite the failing law and order in the capital, the Home Minister has not even bothered to call a meeting of local MPs, MLAs or police to discuss the matter and to find possible solutions.
    
"If you look at newspapers in the morning and monitor TV channels, you will see them projecting Delhi as the "crime
Capital of India. I feel sad when people from outside talk about the law and order problem in Delhi," he said and stressed that BJP would put an end to the rising crime graph in the capital if elected.
    
Malhotra also demanded that the police force should discharge their duties honestly.
    
Lashing at the current dispensation for failing to tackle crime against women, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said things can be improved if the government has the "willpower" to do it.

Describing the Chief Minister Shila Dixit's statement following the death of TV producer Soumya Vishwanathan as "irresponsible" and "unfortunate", Swaraj said the government should rather strive to create a climate in the Capital where women feel safe.
    
The former chief minister called for strengthening the police force especially beat constables. Claiming that no crime was reported during her tenure, she said her party can improve the crime situation in seven days if voted back to power.
    
Insisting that police be made accountable for every crime committed, she floated the idea of posting "women decoys" on streets and also increasing patrolling activities.
    
BJP leader Harsh Vardhan, journalists Chandan Mitra and Nidhi Kulpati also spoke on the occasion.