BJP Kerala unit president seeks Ahmed’s resignation

KASARGOD: Minister of state for external affairs E Ahmed should quit owning responsibility for the government’s “laxity” in securing the release of engineer K Suryanaryana, killed by taliban in Afghanistan, BJP state unit president P S Sreedharan Pillai said on Monday.

The centre, taking a cue from the death of border roads organisation personnel Maniappan, who recently met a similar fate in Afghanistan, should have stepped up measures to save the engineer from the clutches of the taliban, Pillai told a BJP district committee meeting here to condole the demise of Suryanarayana.

Noting that India had spent around Rs 2,600 crore in Afghanistan for reconstruction work, Pillai said the BJP was not against India’s ongoing developmental work. However, the party is a bit sceptical about the “soft-stand” being taken by the centre against the taliban and its sponsors, he said.