Photo: PTI

AGAINST "SOFT STANCE": The former Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi arrive for the party's national executive committee meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party plans to organise a major rally and march to Parliament at the start of the winter session to focus on what it describes as the "soft stance" of the United Progressive Alliance Government towards terrorism and internal security matters.

A meeting of BJP office-bearers held here on Thursday decided on a "second phase of agitation" that would demand the hanging of Mohammad Afzal, accused in the Parliament House attack case, among other things. "Our main demand is that Afzal should hang," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. "It is not an issue related to charges against one person, the hanging will show India's commitment to fight terrorism," he added.

Many absent

Mr. Javadekar was briefing reporters on decisions taken at the meeting chaired by party president Rajnath Singh and attended by the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, among others. Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani, did not attend, because he was busy receiving the Foreign Minister of Maldives. Jaswant Singh and Arun Jaitley were both abroad and Sushma Swaraj stayed away as she was unwell. Several leaders from Uttar Pradesh did not come as they were engaged with local body elections.

At 14 places where major terrorist attacks have taken place in the recent past, the BJP would organise demonstrations and rallies in the week starting November 15. These will culminate with a major rally and march to Parliament. Finally, on December 13, the anniversary of the attack on Parliament, the BJP will honour families of those killed by the terrorists.

Among the 14 places are Mumbai, Malegaon, Nagpur, Gandhinagar, Ayodhya, Imphal, Guwahati, Jammu and Kolkata. Srinagar and the Kashmir valley have been left out.

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