CHENNAI: The increase in terrorism and the softness of the Government in tackling the menace, the rising prices, and the farmers' suicides would be raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the winter session of Parliament, senior leader Venkaiah Naidu said here on Tuesday.

He told presspersons that to protest against the delay in carrying out the death sentence awarded to Afzal Guru, demonstrations would be held in 14 places, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Nagpur and Marad (Kerala), from November 15. The agitation would culminate in a march to Parliament on November 22, when the winter session begins, to highlight the Government's callousness in tackling terrorism.

Talks with Pakistan

On the ongoing talks between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan, he said till the neighbouring country stopped aiding and abetting terrorists, talks would not help. Besides acting firmly, India should step up its campaign, urging the international community to act.

Saying that the rise in prices was unprecedented, Mr. Naidu wondered why even the Left parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Pattali Makkal Katchi were keeping silent. The Government was insensitive to the suffering of the common man. Though the international price of crude had come down, the Government had not reduced the price of petrol. The former BJP president said farmers' suicides continued in Andhra Pradesh. Similar incidents were also reported from Maharashtra even after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Vidharba.

Mr. Naidu said the BJP, in principle, was in favour of special economic zones (SEZ). However, at the same time, cultivable lands should not be acquired. The Tamil Nadu Government's decision in this regard was welcome. Farmers whose lands were acquired should be paid more than the market price and made stakeholders in the SEZs. A report would be submitted to the party before the start of the Parliament session, he said.

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