The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Another weapon in BJP arsenal

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Thursday, May 15, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Another weapon in BJP arsenal

B. S. Satish Kumar

Centre’s weak approach blamed for blasts

BJP has made terrorism, price rise main poll issues
Sidhu roped in for campaigning

BANGALORE: The Jaipur blasts, which claimed the lives of more than 60 persons, has provided ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party which has made terrorism its main poll issue in Karnataka along side price rise.

The BJP leaders, who are campaigning for the second and third phase of elections in Karnataka, wasted no time in highlighting the Jaipur blasts during the campaign to drive home their point that the menace of terrorism had assumed serious proportions in the country.

Hitherto, the BJP had been raising a hue and cry about national security, especially terrorism, at the national level.

However, the party has been trying to relate the issue to Karnataka ever since the terrorists’ alleged link with Karnataka was unearthed by the State police.

It is not just the Jaipur blasts that the BJP is focusing on. The bomb blast in a Hubli court on May 10 has helped the BJP leaders locate the terrorist threat to the central and northern parts of the State going to polls in the second and third phases.

Speaking to The Hindu, a senior BJP functionary expressed confidence that these two incidents would positively impact the party’s poll performance as terrorism was one of its key poll issues.

“We are sure that these incidents would change the voting pattern itself,” he said while claiming that the party’s view that the situation in the country was becoming dangerous due to the weak approach against terrorism by the Government, had been vindicated.

While campaigning for the second phase ended on Wednesday, the party is likely to make some modification in its poll campaign style to focus more on terrorism for the third phase as Hubli-Dharwad region is going to the polls in the third phase.

Campaigning

To activate its campaign for the third and the final phase of polling, the party has roped in a large number of leaders, including the former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu. Mr. Sidhu will be campaigning in several areas, including Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum on May 16 and 17.

Meanwhile, in Hubli, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley has condemned the Jaipur blasts and accused the UPA Government of adopting a “weak-kneed policy linked to vote-bank politics in tackling terrorism”.

He charged the Centre with delaying the nod for the laws against terrorism framed by Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The Centre should itself come out with a stringent law to curb terrorism, Mr. Jaitely added.

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