The Hindu : `Godhra will figure in BJP campaign'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 28, 2002

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National

`Godhra will figure in BJP campaign'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 27. Not withstanding the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's appeal that Godhra should not be made an election issue in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party said today it would be one of the key issues because the Congress had already raked up the issue.

"If the Opposition parties, including the Congress, keep on raising it, how can we avoid it? We will have to tell the people about involvement of the Congress councillors in the Godhra incident. The Congress itself is in the dock,'' the BJP spokesman and MP, V.K. Malhotra, told presspersons here.

Several other issues such as the refusal of the Congress-PDP Government in Jammu and Kashmir to invoke POTA in the State, release of separatists and disbanding of the Special Operations Group would also be raised. "These questions will arise in Gujarat. We will stress that Gujarat should not be allowed to become a Jammu and Kashmir and, therefore, caution the electors," Mr. Malhotra said.

Asked about the Modi Government's failure to control riots in Ahmedabad, he said the riots were controlled in three days. "If the Congress had been in power, the riots would have gone on for several days and thousands would have been killed," he claimed.

He said the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, had been given a clean chit by both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister though Mr. Malhotra chose to gloss over the fact that during his visit to the riot-hit Ahmedabad Mr. Vajpayee had reminded Mr. Modi to adhere to his "Rajdharma" while Mr. Advani had expressed displeasure over the Chief Minister's reported anti-minority remarks. Asked about the role of the VHP leaders such as Pravin Togadia in the campaign, Mr. Malhotra said Mr. Togadia was not a BJP member.

Describing the recent remark of the People's Democratic Party vice-president, Mehbooba Mufti, asking India and Pakistan not to interfere with the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir, as "anti-national", he said the Congress should make its stand clear as the PDP was a partner in the Stae's ruling coalition.

"How can Mehbooba Mufti make such a remark? Parliament had unanimously passed a resolution saying that the entire State, including the area occupied by Pakistan, was a part of India... So far as Pakistan is concerned, that country has no right over Kashmir," he said.

On the resignation of Justice Venkataswamy as Chairman of the Tehelka panel, Mr. Malhotra blamed the Congress and the Opposition for creating an atmosphere which had forced the judge to quit. "This shows that these parties have no regard for the judiciary. How can a self-respecting judge accept this assignment? It will take sometime for the Government to appoint a new judge and carry on with the probe," he said.

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