Senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday accused the Union government of indulging in “divisive tactics”, referring to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s recent letter to Chief Ministers of all States, asking them to ensure that no “innocent Muslim youth” is wrongly detained in terror cases.
It was time for the United Progressive Alliance government to “wake up” in the light of arrests of two terrorists in Puttur of Andhra Pradesh.
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“The arrests were just a tip of the ice berg. If the Union and State governments have the determination to act, a strong message could be sent to Pakistan which was harbouring terrorists,” he said.
Pakistan was trying to destabilise the country’s economy by sponsoring terrorist activities.
Terror outfits, albeit in different names, continue to carry out their acts to disturb peace in the country, . he said.
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Kashmir
Demanding an explanation from the Union government on the happenings in Kashmir, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was holding talks with his Pakistani counterpart, he said: “The country should be given a clear picture of the entire issue.”
Describing the third front being proposed by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and other political parties as a mirage, Mr. Naidu said that the experiment proved to be a failure and that it would not succeed again.
Telangana
Mr. Naidu dubbed the Union Cabinet’s approval of a Telangana State as a “hasty decision” and accused the Congress of handling the issue in a “casual, immature and irresponsible manner”.
Addressing presspersons, he said: “The decision could have been taken keeping the interests of all regions of Andhra Pradesh in mind. The Congress-led UPA government has completely bungled the issue, which has resulted in discontent in Andhra Pradesh.”
“If the government had taken all sections into confidence before taking the decision, this situation would not have arisen at all,” he added.
Booklet
Releasing a booklet, “NDA v/s Congress-led UPA”, comparing the rule of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government and the Congress-led UPA government, Mr. Naidu challenged the Congress leaders for a debate on the achievements of the two governments.
Noting that the UPA government cannot adopt an “escapist attitude”, as it is the Congress which ruled the country for most of the time since Independence, and thus was responsible for the economic crisis, he said: “The achievements of the NDA and the failures of UPA governments will be the poll plank for 2014 Lok Sabha elections.”