'UPA has failed to check prices, terrorism'

BJP president Rajnath Singh flays the UPA government for its "failure to check rising prices and soft approach towards terrorism".

Criticising the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its "failure to check rising prices and soft approach towards terrorism", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh on Saturday said it neither had a policy nor the political will to deal with the two issues effectively.

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He was addressing a public meeting in Bhopal on the second day of the party's three-day national executive meet.

"The price rise is a phenomenon associated with the Congress governments since Independence. It was only during the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) rule under Atal Bihari Vajpayee when an effective check was put on rising prices of commodities. When we could do it, why can't they?" he asked.

The BJP president said that about 8,000 lives were lost during the three wars with Pakistan and one with China but more than 75,000 people in the country have been killed by terrorists.

But the UPA lacked the political will to fight terrorism, Rajnath Singh alleged.

"We brought POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) when we were in power but the UPA government repealed it only to appease Muslims. The Congress does not want to bring a law like POTA to check terrorism for fear of losing the Muslim vote bank.

"I want to ask them whether it considers all Indian Muslims supporters of terrorism?" he quipped while promising to bring back the anti-terror law.

"The BJP's politics is aimed at keeping the nation united but the UPA government is moving in a direction which would lead to another division of the country," he said referring to the Rajinder Sachar Committee report and its recommendations on the socio-economic condition of the minority Muslim community.

The BJP will not tolerate reservations in government jobs and education on religious lines, Rajnath Singh said. "My party wants that all those who are poor should get reservation and other facilities irrespective of caste or creed."

Commenting on the Ram Setu controversy, he reiterated that his party would oppose the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project tooth and nail as it was a matter of Hindus' faith.

The government is planning to build a canal that will reduce the navigational route linking the country's east coast with the west coast. The project involves dredging Ram Setu or Adam's Bridge that Hindus believe was constructed by Lord Ram's army of monkeys.

Earlier this month, responding to a petition in the Supreme Court, the government had said in an affidavit - since withdrawn - that epics like Ramayana provided no historical proof of Lord Ram's existence - angering BJP and many Hidnu groups.

Rajnath Singh said: "Even Aurangzeb or the British rulers who ruled the country for a long time never dared to point fingers at the existence of Lord Ram."

"Questioning the existence of Lord Ram is like asking your father to prove that he is your father," he told the gathering and appealed them to remove from power the "anti-Ram forces" in the next elections.