Newkerala.com

Mangalore, May 5 : Dubbing role of senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) L K Advani as irresponsible in Kandahar hijack case, ruling Congress Party wants to cash upon the issue in upcoming Karnataka polls.

Campaigning for the party in Mangalore on Sunday senior leader of Congress Veerappa Moily said that Advani should be more responsible.

"He was Deputy Prime Minister (Advani) and Home Minister, if he doesn't know that four dreaded militants or terrorists are being escorted by his own colleagues, it reflects his irresponsibility. I think he should become more responsible," said he.

Major political parties have started wooing voters in Karnataka as the state heads for a three-phased polls beginning May 10.

Karnataka is slated to hold three-phased polls for the 224-member State Assembly on May 10, 16 and 22.

The elections will be held for 89 constituencies in the first phase, 66 constituencies will go to poll in the second phase on May 16, while in the remaining 69 constituencies poll in the third phase will be held on May 22.

Votes will be counted on May 25 and results are expected by afternoon.

The state has been in a political wilderness since November last year when the BJP-led coalition was ousted from the assembly in less than a fortnight of being sworn in.

Advani was Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government during the time of hijack.

Five armed men hijacked the Airbus A-300 carrying 189 passengers and crew between Kathmandu and New Delhi on Christmas Eve in 1999. The plane touched down in western India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates before landing in Kandahar in Afghanistan.

The hijackers killed one passenger early in the week-long stand-off, but the remaining passengers and crew walked free after India released three Kashmir militants from jail.