Mumbai blast : BJP to organise one lakh protests

The protests would be the culmination of the second phase of agitation to protest against price rise beginning on July 17, the day the BJP workers organise 10,000 dharnas nationwide. The marathon agitation, premised on the slogan of ‘Congress Hatao, Desh Bachao’, would take off at the conclusion of a two-day long Campaign Against Terrorism (CAT) on July 16.

Coinciding with the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 24, the unique ghantanad (ringing of bells) agitation would begin at 11 am and conclude at 11.30 am.

The action plan for the agitation was finalised at the core committee meeting of the BJP at the residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Those who attended the meeting were party president Rajnath Singh, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, N Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh, VK Malhotra, Bal Apte and Sanjay Joshi.

The campaign against terrorism will take place on July 15-16, giving way to ‘Congress Hatao, Desh Bachao’ agitation from July 17-24. Between July 17 and 23, all the 900 MLAs and 138 MPs of the BJP along with the district unit chiefs will organise over 10,000 mass awakening campaigns in their respective constituencies to highlight the Government’s all round failure.

Never in the past has the BJP organised such a widespread agitation, which, observers feel, is bound to boost the morale of the party cadres. The nationwide protest is aimed at galvanising public opinion against the UPA Government at a time when it was under attack from foes and friends alike on all issues ranging from terrorism, disinvestments to the spiralling prices of essential commodities.

“The Government’s inefficiency on all fronts has created such a situation that there is no security for the nation, the people, and food. The common man is facing the worst of inflation, but finds to his dismay a totally non-functional Government. How secure are the people from terrorists needs no clarification,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said, adding, the second phase of agitation would be historical in more ways than one. “Never in the past has the BJP organised an agitation on such a large scale,” he admitted.

During the two-day CAT, LK Advani would lead demonstrations in the Capitals of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, Rajnath Singh in Nagpur and Gujarat and Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai. Former Prime Minister Vajpayee would hold the fort along with Sushma Swaraj in Delhi. The other leaders who would attend CAT in different State Capitals include Murli Manohar Joshi, Venkaiah Naidu, Jaswant Singh, Shahnawaz Hussain, Bal Apte, Kalraj Mishra, Vinay Katiyar, Ananth Kumar, Prakash Javadekar and Sumitra Mahajan.

“After the serial blasts in Mumbai, the Government must initiate hot pursuits to deal with the menace of terrorism. There has to be tough laws in place to tackle terrorism. You cannot afford to be lenient in dealing with the terrorists at all,” Javadekar said.

About the ban on Students’ Islamic Movement in India (SIMI) and UP Government’s stand on the outfit, the BJP leader said: “There is sufficient ground to justify the ban on the organisation. The information that has been supplied to Mulayam Singh Yadav by the Maharashtra Government about SIMI links to the recent seizures of weapons and ammunition in different parts of the State is sufficient to justify the ban on the organisation”.