BJP has no right to talk about terrorism: Sonia

Dec 13, 2007, 14:00 GMT

Ahmedabad, Dec 13 (IANS) Responding to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's shrill election campaign, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Thursday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had no right to talk about terrorism.

Addressing public rallies at Dabhoi, Patan and Ahmedabad ahead of the second and final phase of the Gujarat assembly elections Sunday, Gandhi referred to the hijack of the Indian Airlines flight by terrorists in 1999.

'They were the ones who had taken the terrorist (Maulana Masood Azhar) to Kandahar for release, and it was the same terrorist who had planned the attack on the Indian parliament (on Dec 13, 2001).

'I am proud of the Congress party that has never bowed before terrorists. Instead, its leaders like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have laid down their lives fighting terrorism,' she said.

Rubbishing the BJP's poll promises, she said the people of Gujarat are wise enough to differentiate between the 'khare sikke and khote sikke' (genuine coins and fake ones).

She appealed to the electorate, 'I ask you to vote for the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru. The elections are not just a political contest. They are for standing by the principles on which the independence was won.'

Attacking Modi's shift in his campaign from developmental issues to terrorism with allegedly communal undertone, Gandhi said, 'Their mask of development is off. Their real face is out.'

She accused the state government of being anti-poor and anti-farmer, and said the waters of the Narmada river were allowed to flow into the sea but were not given to farmers for irrigation.

'More than 28,000 jobs for the Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes are lying vacant. Is this their target of development?' she asked.

The Congress chief promised the electorate that her party, if elected to power, will focus especially on development of small and medium enterprises in the state and form an Industrial Reestablishment Fund.

While polling was held for 87 constituencies Tuesday, 95 seats go to polls in the second phase Sunday. The votes will be counted Dec 23.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service