Release terror operatives’ list; BJP asks Antony

BJP vice-president Venkiah Naidu on Monday demanded the release of the list containing the names of the Keralites with terror links that Defence Minister AK Antony had claimed to have handed over to the Kerala Government.

Talking to newsmen at Nedumbassery off Kochi, Venkiah said Defence Minister Antony had on Sunday made “sweeping remarks that the State Government was sitting on a list of terrorists sent by the Central Government to the State.”

The BJP leader said that unless and until the list was made public, one could only presume that Antony was playing politics and trying to embarrass the CPI(M). Antony had on Sunday alleged that the State Government was yet to act on the list of people having links with terrorists in Kashmir.

Taking strong exception to the Congress and communist parties in the State, Naidu said both the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF were stoking communalism in the name of secularism. These parties were compromising on the security of the nation for the sake of votebank politics.

Referring to the recent understanding of the Left parties with Abdul Nasir Madani’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Naidu said the Communist parties had no reservation to share dais with a person like Madani, who along with his family had alleged terror links.

Naidu criticised the Communists, who did not have any problem with ‘Jehadi terrorism’, which was a huge threat to national security, were seriously concerned with American imperialism.

Earlier, speaking at a BJP election meeting in Vadanappally, Thrissur, Naidu said POTA would be reintroduced within 100 days if the BJP-led NDA came to power after the election. He also said that there would also be action against Madani and his PDP if BJP came to power.

“India is secure. But Pakistan is trying to destroy India,” he said. The rivalry between the Congress and the CPI(M) in Kerala was an act of hypocrisy as they would be coming together after the polls, he added.

At Nedumbassery, the BJP leader claimed that the party-led NDA would clinch a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabhs elections. He said the party manifesto, released recently, was a big hit.

“The manifesto is realistic, pragmatic and popular, and is taking development and welfare together. The manifesto has been discussed among the political, media and societal circles as a populist manifesto,” he claimed.

On the prospects of the party in the elections, Naidu said that the BJP would do better in 16 states, including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Expressing confidence, Naidu said the party would improve its highest tally of 182 seats by getting close to 200 seats in the elections. Admitting that it was a different proposition in Kerala, Naidu said the party would open its account this time in the State.

Describing the Third Front as a ‘parking lot’, Naidu said it was a grouping of failed leaders who were destined to part ways after the elections. He said the UPA alliance was disintegrating with most of the parties parting ways with the Congress-led alliance.

Asked about the Uttar Pradesh Government’s decision to invoke National Security Act (NSA) against Varun Gandhi, Naidu said it was atrocious and if Varun had violated Election Commission (EC) code of conduct, action should have been taken against him under those provisions.