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“Full-scale war, let’s stay united”

BJP leader L.K. Advani at the CST station in Mumbai, one of the sites of terror attack, on Thursday. — Photo: PTI

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has described the terrorist attacks in Mumbai as a “full-scale war on India” and said the need of the hour was for “the entire country to stay united and calm” to face the challenge.

“At this juncture, the country needs to fight the terrorist menace resolutely and stand together,” Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani said.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, K.S. Sudarshan expressed shock and anguish over the attacks, while extending “wholehearted support” to the government and security agencies in tackling the national crisis.

While Mr. Advani said the terrorists sought to “sever the country’s economic nerve centre,” the RSS chief saw a design to destroy the country.

The former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expressed similar sentiments, adding, “we have to crush terrorism unitedly.”

Separately, party leaders met at the BJP headquarters here with Mr. Advani in the chair – BJP president Rajnath Singh was away in Rajasthan on an election tour – and adopted a resolution condemning the attacks, offering condolences to families whose relatives were killed and commending the bravery of the police and army personnel who laid down their lives battling the terrorists.

“This is an hour for all sections of society to sink their differences so that the nation stands up as one body,” the BJP said. It hoped that the political establishment, the security agencies and the country as a whole would draw the “right lessons” from the incident.

It is learnt that since Wednesday night, when Mumbai’s ordeal began, Mr. Rajnath Singh had been conferring with Mr. Advani over telephone, and the top BJP leadership came to the conclusion that this would not be an appropriate occasion to attack the government.

However, Mr. Advani did say that the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress-NCP’s coalition in Maharashtra had a “lot to answer for.”

BJP leaders said unless intelligence improved, what happened in Mumbai could happen in any other city tomorrow.

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