NEW DELHI, 26 September 2006 — Aiming to turn the electoral tide in its favor, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced “Vande Mataram,” Ram temple and internal security as its key election issues. The party launched its weeklong “Vande Mataram” campaign yesterday with an eye on forthcoming assembly elections in several states.
Where internal security is concerned, the party has turned its political missiles against Pakistan. Of late, this has been marked by the BJP at first opposing Havana talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf and then strongly criticizing joint anti-terror mechanism agreed on by the two leaders.
Continuing this drive, BJP chief Rajnath Singh yesterday rejected Musharraf’s remarks in his book regarding the Kargil conflict. A BJP-led coalition government was then in power.
In his book, “In the Line of Fire,” Musharraf said: “I would like to state emphatically that whatever movement has taken place so far in the direction of finding a solution to Kashmir is owed considerably to the Kargil conflict.”
Rejecting this claim, Rajnath said: “All his claims are baseless. On the contrary, the Vajpayee government made it known to the world after the 1999 events that Pakistan was responsible for cross-border terrorism.”
Dismissing Musharraf’s stand on the outcome of the Kargil conflict, Rajnath said: “The truth of the matter is Pakistan lost while India won. It was also a diplomatic victory for India when the world came to know about Pakistan’s role in encouraging terror.”
He reiterated the BJP stand that New Delhi should suspend confidence-building measures with Islamabad until Pakistan dismantles terror infrastructure on its soil.
The BJP leader cited Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s comments on terrorism in the state contradicting remarks made by the prime minister on Sunday in Nainital. “The prime minister is hoodwinking the nation on internal security. He says infiltration has come down, but Azad has said just the opposite,” Rajnath said.
