NEW DELHI: Cautioning against panic or alarm amid reports of terrorist threats to politicians in the run-up to and during the general elections, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said yesterday the government was taking all measures to ensure peaceful polls, even as he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of promoting a divisive agenda.
“There is no need for any panic. There is no need for any alarm. Our levels of preparedness have gone up substantially,” Chidambaram told reporters at the Congress headquarters here, unexpectedly donning the role of party spokesperson.
“We have deployed enough security forces in the run-up to the elections. We have taken all measures that are required to ensure polling takes place peacefully,” he said. The home minister also lashed out at the BJP in anticipation of the release of its election manifesto today. “The BJP’s agenda is a divisive agenda. The BJP divides people on communal lines. When you divide the country you cannot fight terror,” he contended.
“A country divided on religious and caste lines can’t fight terrorism. We need to vanquish the communal agenda if you want to vanquish terror,” he said, claiming that only the Congress could fight terrorism without dividing the country. “Our enemy remains the BJP. Our enemy remains the communal agenda of the BJP.”
Chidambaram said it was “shameful” that the party had claimed the controversial CD containing the hate speeches of BJP candidate Varun Gandhi was doctored when no investigation had been carried out. “How can they (BJP) say it is doctored without a forensic investigation?”
Just last week, Chidambaram had urged 40 VVIPs, including leaders of political parties and chief ministers, to take all precautions while campaigning and specifically detailed a list of dos and don’ts while venturing out during electioneering.
When specifically asked about the security threats to Congress party President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, the home minister said: “I cannot discuss the individual threat to individuals. All arrangements have been made to protect both.”
— With input from agencies
