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BJP Chief Rajnath Singh. Photo Courtesy: Sneha Pillai
BJP Chief Rajnath Singh. Photo Courtesy: Sneha Pillai

BJP harps on Hindutva, terrorism at Lucknow rally

Sat-Aug 02, 2008

Lucknow / Indo-Asian News Serivce

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday fell back on Hindutva and terrorism, with its president Rajnath Singh harping on the Ram Setu controversy, the Amarnath shrine land transfer row and parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru at a rally in Lucknow.

Speaking at the meeting, which the party termed an 'Expose Corruption' rally, Singh expressed surprise that the central government had questioned the existence of Lord Ram in its defence of the Setusamudram shipping canal project.

"If Ram didn't exist, why did the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi say 'He Ram' when he was dying and often chant the bhajan 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram'?" Singh asked.

The BJP chief said that the central government was unable to tackle terrorism for it was soft-paddling elements who stoked the flames of hatred.

"All courts of the country had recommended the hanging of Afzal Guru (in the 2001 parliament attack case), but the central government is not allowing it," the party chief said.

Referring to the trust vote the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA's) won in parliament July 22, Singh alleged that "as many as 49 MPs had been bought over by the central government".

He refuted the charge that only BJP MPs had cross-voted in favour of the government in return for money.

"The government will spend Rs 20,000 crore on power, which would by 2020 meet only five percent of the country's electricity requirement," Singh said.

Besides this, electricity will cost Rs 6 to Rs 8 a unit then as against Rs 3 at present, he said.

Singh said that the nuclear deal would only help the United States' vested interests and wondered that the UPA government showed so much haste in pushing it.

"It took the US seven years (of negotiations) with Japan and 13 with China to sign a nuclear agreement. Why is India so much in a hurry?" he asked.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders Kalraj Mishra and Lalji Tandon called upon party activists to dethrone the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government in Uttar Pradesh.

"BJP must launch a campaign to unmask Chief Minister Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Charges of corruption have been levelled against both of them," said Mishra.

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