NEW DELHI, Mar 2: BJP today demanded that the Government nominate representatives of Kashmiri Pandits, who had to leave the State due to terror threats, and the people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
“There are 111 seats in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly out of which elections are held only on 87 seats as 24 seats lie in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir that remain vacant.
“We think that the provisions should be made to fill these 24 seats by nominations from the people displaced from PoK,” BJP President Rajnath Singh said.
He was delivering the president’s address at the BJP National Council Meet here.
Singh also said Kashmiri Pandits, who had to leave the Valley when terrorism was at its peak, should also be nominated to the Assembly.
The party also expressed concern over the recent killings of Sarpanchs in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists.
“We condemn the manner in which democracy is being suppressed by terrorist outfits at the Panchayat level.
“The Government of Jammu and Kashmir is not only dilly-dallying in giving financial help to the Panchayats but has even failed in ensuing the safety of the Sarpanchs,” Singh said.
He charged that terrorists have killed Sarpanchs and publicly warned them to resign from their position.
“Due to fear of terrorists, hundreds of Sarpanchs have collectively tendered their resignation. Sarpanchs are demanding security…,” he said.
Singh claimed that though he has written a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on this issue, the UPA Government has been silent on the matter.
The main opposition also suggested that Government should make a clear distinction between the Hindu refugees fleeing from Pakistan and the illegal migrants crossing the border from Bangladesh.
The party demanded that the Hindu refugees be given citizenship as they had fled due to persecution.
“In India, families belonging to minorities living in Pakistan have taken refuge. Due to lack of any well thought out refugee relief and rehabilitation policy, the refugees coming to India have to live in an atmosphere of uncertainty,” the BJP chief said.
He demanded that Government form a proper refugee policy keeping in mind the distinction between an infiltrator and a refugee.
India has always given refuge to victim groups, he said.
“A clear and special refugee rehabilitation policy should be made in the context of those who are justifiably refugees and those who are coming as victims.
“If we get an opportunity to form the Government, we will make a rational refugee policy,” Singh said.
He also emphasised on the need for checking illegal immigration from Bangladesh which he alleged was changing the demographic profile of the country, especially in the bordering states like Assam and West Bengal.
BJP, which has been opposing NCTC, today accused the Congress-led UPA Government of failing to provide leadership in fighting terror and asked it to bring in a strong anti-terror law if it was serious on the issue.
“The Congress-led UPA is not providing the leadership to fight terrorism. We cannot win over the fight against terror under UPA,” BJP President Rajnath Singh said in his inaugural address at the National Council meet, where he condoled the loss of lives in the recent bomb blasts in Hyderabad.
Claiming that the proposed National Counter Terrorism Centre was against the country’s federal structure, he said BJP was not against any laws to shore up internal security but will not accept anything that “poses a question mark on the nation’s federal structure”.
“If the Government brings a law to fight terror, BJP will support it,” he said.
“If the Government is so serious on the issue of terrorism that it wants to make an anti-terrorism institution like NCTC at Central level then why it is not keen on enacting an anti-terrorism law at the Centre,” the BJP chief questioned.
He said the one-sided effort which the UPA Government made for friendship despite not getting expected help from Pakistan projected the image of India as a ‘soft State’.
“As long as the Government does not take a tough stand against terrorism, the terrorists with their emboldened spirit would keep targeting cities, trains, buses and other important institutions,” Singh said.
The BJP also hit out at Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for his ‘Hindu terror’ remarks, saying they were made under a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’.
“The remarks were made not by mistake but under a well-planned conspiracy,” Singh said and accused the Congress of indulging in vote bank politics for the last over six decades.
Shinde had later expressed regret over his remarks linking BJP and RSS to terrorism, which he had made during an AICC meet in Jaipur in January, after strong objections from these organisations.
The opposition party also hit out at the ruling dispensation over corruption in the wake of the VVIP helicopter scam and price rise.
The opposition party also charged the Government with failing on the diplomatic front while dealing with neighbouring countries.
He said India needs to maintain good relations with neighbouring Pakistan but this has to be mutual.
“Pakistan is waging a multi-dimensional war with India through training to terrorists, supply of weapons, smuggling of drugs, fake currencies and communal propaganda on internet which may be called hybrid war,” he said, adding that “the Government does not possess the will power to fight it.”
Lamenting the lack of an “aggressive policy” against terrorism, Singh cited the example of US President Barack Obama “who had said ‘we will search you and finish you’ to Osama bin Laden after the World Trade Centre attack” and Israeli Prime Minister who had declared “‘we will hunt you down, we will annihilate you’ and responds aggressively against terrorist hideouts”.
With Pakistan continuously waging a war against India by sponsoring terrorism from across the border, Singh said India has not been talking tough and has instead taken a stand that “we will not play cricket” whenever a terror attack sponsored by Pakistan has taken place.
“The UPA government dealt a severe blow to India’s fight against terrorism when Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave up his own policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism in the wake of Mumbai attack in 2008 in the city of Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt.
“UPA Government bent its knees before Pakistan in Sharm-el-Sheikh and accepted that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism like India,” Singh claimed.
While expressing concern over the growing “all weather friendship” between Pakistan and China, he also raised the issue of construction of a dam on river Brahmaputra by China and claimed it will “destroy” the entire North-East region.
Rajnath Singh alleged the Congress wanted to form a Government by dividing the nation on the basis of caste and religion.
“The Congress party has ruled the nation for 65 years by doing only vote-bank politics. The BJP will form a Government to build the nation,” he said.
“Congress party is knowingly indulging in vote-bank politics by giving communal colour to the issue of terrorism. Congress leaders have always been indulging in the vote-bank politics at the cost of national interest,” Singh alleged, adding that “BJP is completely against giving any religious colour to terrorism.”
Terming the issues of illegal immigration and internal security as serious, Singh said “with fake currency to the tune of Rs 16,000 crore coming in”, it also posed a serious threat to the country’s economy.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, projected by many within the BJP as the next Prime Ministerial candidate, today grabbed the limelight at the National Council Meet here with party president Rajnath Singh lauding him for three consecutive victories in Assembly polls.
Modi’s popularity among the BJP office-bearers from across the country, who have gathered here for the conclave, was apparent with the crowd breaking into applause each time his name was mentioned.
Though the main task before this National Council is the ratification of Rajnath Singh’s presidentship and no announcement of a national role for Modi is in the offing, the Gujarat Chief Minister was the star of the meet.
Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel set the stage when he announced that it appears as if not Manmohan Singh but Modi is the Prime Minister of the country.
“Though the Prime Ministerial candidate will be chosen later it appears as if he (Modi) is the PM,” Goel said about the Gujarat Chief Minister which was welcomed with a round of applause from the audience.
At the beginning of his 95-minute long inaugural speech, party president Rajnath Singh accorded a special welcome to Modi by asking the 2,200-strong crowd to give him a standing ovation for his third consecutive Assembly election victory, which is unprecedented for any BJP Chief Minister.
“He has made a hat-trick. We were delighted to hear about his victory. We had never seen a BJP Chief Minister win three consecutive terms. His development model has been lauded by all, even at the international forum. Be it the US or the European Union all have praised his good governance,” Singh said.
“It won’t be proper to welcome Modi with mere words. He deserves a good round of applause, a standing ovation,” the BJP president said. He garlanded Modi amid slogan shouting by enthusiastic party members.
The party top brass, comprising of Central leaders as well as Chief Ministers seated on the dais, were on their feet and and clapped for Modi.
Though Rajnath Singh tried a balancing act towards the end of his speech by praising other Chief Ministers, Modi appeared to be the favourite with the crowd.
The BJP president said he was confident that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Raman Singh will also win three consecutive elections when Assembly polls are held later this year in the two states.
Singh also exhorted party leaders assembled at the National Council, which is meeting to chalk out its roadmap for the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Delhi and Jharkhand, as well as the general elections slated for 2014, to bury their differences and fight unitedly.
Modi and Chouhan will make their presentations tomorrow at the conclave. Modi’s speech on “good governance” is being looked forward to by the Council members. Chouhan, whom Modi’s detractors are pushing forward as a counter to Modi, will speak on agricultural growth.
Top sources in the party, however, clarified that no decision on a national role for Modi and Chouhan — both of whom are likely to be made members of the BJP Parliamentary Board — will be taken at the conclave.
But an announcement to this effect may be made by Rajnath Singh later this month.
The party has clarified that a decision on who should be made the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate will be taken at an appropriate time by the Parliamentary Board. Some of the top party leaders as well as allies like JD(U) are opposed to Modi being the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP and the NDA.
Meanwhile, BJP National Council today authorised newly elected President Rajnath Singh to constitute his Parliamentary Board, which may see Narendra Modi being formally brought to the party’s central polity.
BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar moved the resolution at the National Council meeting here authorising Singh to constitute Parliamentary Board, the highest decision making body of the BJP, Central Election Committee and Disciplinary Committee and it was passed unanimously by the members who raised their hands in support.
Rajnath Singh told the Council members that he will consult senior leader L K Advani and others before constituting his team. The new president will also reconstitute the National Executive which has around 200 members.
Though passing of such a resolution is a routine exercise undertaken each time a new president takes charge, it assumes significance in the present scenario as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan are likely to be inducted into the Parliamentary Board.
The Parliamentary Board comprises of 11 members. It is unclear if the party will decide to expand the body or remove two members to accommodate Modi and Chouhan in case a decision to induct them is taken.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is a member of the Board, has not attended any of its meetings since 2007 due to ill-health.
Party leaders said these two chief ministers are likely to be inducted as they are at the helm of big states having a sizeable population. Also, there is clamour among party leaders and workers to bring Modi to national politics to cash in on his growing popularity.
BJP is hoping to come back to power at the Centre after losing two consecutive general elections in 2004 and 2009.
Modi may also be given a key role in the election campaign of the BJP.
Party sources said Rajnath Singh is likely to announce his team of central office-bearers, including general secretaries, vice-presidents and secretaries, later this month.
This would be followed by the appointment of the Parliamentary Board, Central Election Committee, National Executive and Disciplinary Committee.(PTI)
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