Senior BJP leader L K Advani’s absence and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s likely promotion may have dominated the BJP National Executive meeting here, but the main opposition party used the occasion to attack the UPA on lapses in internal security and its failure to address other issues before the country.
On the first day of the National Executive meeting, the BJP adopted a resolution, on Saturday, addressing the issue of national security. The second political resolution will be taken up on Sunday.
Party president Rajnath Singh attacked the Congress-led UPA for undermining government agencies and not keeping its promises, and demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation for making changes in the CBI’s report on the coal scam.
“When the Prime Minister himself is under suspicion...why was the CBI report in the Coalgate probe changed in former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar’s room?... After seeing the changes, the Supreme Court observed that the soul of the report has been changed. If after this observation, the Prime Minister still remains in his office, then it would be keeping aside morality. We demand that he (Manmohan) should immediately resign,” party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters about Rajnath’s address.
It was Rajnath’s reference to an announcement on Sunday that kept the buzz around Modi’s elevation alive. Modi is to speak twice on Sunday -- first during the national executive meeting and later at a worker’s conference.
In its resolution, the BJP flagged Maoism as the biggest threat before the country. “The internal and external security scenario is under severe threat. The rising incidence of Maoist violence, terrorism and incidents of incursions and intrusions along the international borders with China and Pakistan are pointers to a greater concern,” the resolution said.
The resolution attacked the Congress’ hypocrisy by making Naxal sympathisers the members of government bodies such as the Planning Commission and National Advisory Council (NAC).
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said former Home Minister Chidambaram and present Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde have tried to communalise terrorism by cooking up terms such as “Hindu terror” and “saffron terror”. These are a part of the Congress’ vote bank and appeasement policy, she added.