LISTENING TO THEIR WOES: Congress president Sonia Gandhi speaks to a victim at a Varanasi hospital on Tuesday night.

Varanasi: Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh, who visited this city on Wednesday to take stock of the situation following the bomb attacks at the Sankat Mochan temple and the Cantonment railway station, alleged that the "soft policies'' of the Central and State Governments helped the emergence of disruptive elements. He wanted the probe into the blasts to be handed over to the CBI.

"No lesson learnt"

Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati said the Uttar Pradesh Government had not learnt any lesson from the terror attack in Ayodhya and the riots in Mau.

She alleged that the law and order situation in the State worsened whenever there was a Samajwadi Party-led Government in Lucknow. She demanded the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Government and the imposition of President's rule in the State.

BJP leaders Kalyan Singh, Kalraj Mishra and Kesri Nath Tripathi also visited the city.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil visited the injured late on Tuesday. Both she and Mr. Patil said the Centre would not allow the atmosphere of communal harmony and peace to be disturbed in the city and the State.

BJP leader L.K. Advani at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. - PHOTOS: PTI

All political leaders condemned the blasts and appealed to the people to exercise restraint and remain calm.

A number of social and cultural organisations, local politicians, Muslim bodies and leading citizens of the holy city condemned the blasts in one voice.

Shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan said the designs of those behind the blasts would never be successful in dividing society and causing a dent to the brotherhood, amity and Ganga-Jamuni culture of the holy city.

PTI reports from Bangalore:

Spiritual leaders including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Chaidnand Muni condemned the blasts.

In a statement from Rishikesh, the leaders expressed dismay at the way ``political parties were playing with the security of the people.''

"Terrorists are specially targeting festivals. First it happened on the eve of Diwali in Delhi and now it has happened close to Holi,'' they said.

Advani, Rajnath plan yatras

Neena Vyas reports from New Delhi:

The Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, and Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh are to embark on simultaneous `rath yatras' to cover the country to mobilise support for the party's "anti-minority" and "anti-Muslim vote-bank politics" plank ahead of the Assembly polls in five States.

Mr. Advani announced the yatra plan here on Wednesday: the party would speak up against the attempt by the Congress to give reservations to Muslims in Andhra Pradesh; it was against the Aligarh Muslim University being declared a minority institution; it was apprehensive that the Congress would bring the quashed Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act through the backdoor by amending the Foreigners Act; it was not in favour of the Sachar Committee trying to establish the status of Muslims in employment and education through "surveys"; it had already rubbished the Banerjee Committee report on the Godhra carnage and had described it as politically motivated and finally, the BJP would attack what it described as the Government's "soft approach" to terrorism.

Party leaders disclosing the `yatra' was Mr. Advani's idea. He had called some senior leaders one-by-one to his office in Parliament House this morning to get their approval for it. Mr. Rajnath Singh confirmed on telephone from Varanasi that he had received a telephone call from Mr. Advani and he had approved it. Mr. Singh said the dates for the `yatras' would be finalised soon and these would take place ahead of the Assembly polls.

In response to a question, Mr. Advani confirmed that the `yatras' would be part of political mobilisation. "The BJP is a political party. We cannot keep politics out." Party managers have been told to ensure that the route of the `yatras' covered the five States going to the polls.

Important lesson

Mr. Advani told reporters that an important lesson for the UPA, its allies and supporters was that any political party that promotes "minorityism" for the sake of vote banks was dangerous and was contributing to (the rise of) religious fundamentalism. This, he added, constituted a "grave threat to national unity and integrity" and "it was not an exaggerated fear."

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