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BJP wants Soren to deal firmly with naxalites

Neena Vyas

INDORE: After endorsing a “bullet for bullet” policy to deal with naxalites in its discussion on the national security resolution adopted here on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it wanted Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren to implement the “strong action” policy against left-wing extremism.

General secretary Ananth Kumar told journalists on the concluding day of the party’s three-day conclave: “We have conveyed to the Jharkhand Chief Minister we want firm and strong action against naxals.”

The BJP is in a coalition government headed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader in Jharkhand, one of the States where the naxalites have a firm foothold.

When Mr. Soren’s party was part of the United Progressive Alliance, the BJP charged the UPA with being soft on naxalites and taking their support during the 2004 elections.

“Appropriate action”

Asked what the BJP would do if Mr. Soren did not respond to its demand, Mr. Kumar said he had promised them “appropriate action.”

At a public rally later, senior leaders L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj claimed that the government at the Centre had a plan to bring back the “pre-1953 status” in Kashmir under which neither the President’s nor the Supreme Court’s writ would run in that State. Ms. Swaraj vowed that the party would fight this till “the last drop of blood of the last party worker.”

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