Tumkur-Bangalore (PTI): Pointing out that the country witnessed major terrorist attacks, including the hijacking of an IA plane to Kandahar, during the BJP-led NDA rule, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the saffron party for accusing her party of being "soft on terrorism".

"We want to ask BJP leaders as to who freed the terrorists during Kandahar hijack. Whether it was attack on Parliament, Akshardham temple in Gujarat or in Kashmir, all these terror attacks happened under BJP government", she said while kicking off her party's electioneering in poll-bound Karnataka. "Whom are they trying to fool. We do not need a certificate on patriotism from such people," Sonia said.

Sonia, who undertook a whirlwind campaign in Tumkur and Bangalore for the first phase of election slated for May 10 in 89 assembly segments, arrived here this morning and immediately left for Tumkur by a helicopter.

Throughout her brief speech, Gandhi lashed out at BJP for training its guns against it on the issue of terrorism telling the electorate "our opponents are levelling all kinds of allegations against us. But people know the truth."

Congress has always fought against terrorism and even sacrified its leaders such as Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi she said, adding, "we cannot tolerate this".