BJP targets UPA on N-deal, Amarnath
DHNS Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 13: In a rapid countdown to the Lok Sabha poll, the BJP on Friday re-loaded its political guns with "nationalistic symbols" and targeted the UPA government on several issues.
These included “surrender of sovereignty” on the nuclear deal, “appeasement” on “matters of faith” like Sri Ram Sethu and the Amarnath yatra; “disrespect” to the national flag in the Kashmir valley and changing of lotus as the logo of the Kendriya Vidyalaya organisation.
The three-day BJP National Executive which opened here with the address of party President Rajnath Singh, revisited old issues and controversies and sought to “invest” in new ones. Senior BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh and Vinay Katiyar — both belonging to backward castes — did not attend the meeting as they were understood to be unhappy over the party’s efforts for an electoral tie-up in western UP with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal.
In his 12-page speech to an estimated 254 delegates including six chief ministers and one deputy-chief minister, the party president demanded that the Central government nationalise the road leading to the Amarnath yatra so that “no future attempt is made to disturb social harmony for political reasons.”
He said the yatra is not only a pilgrimage but also acts as an emotional link between the Kashmir valley and the rest of India.
Seeking to further consolidate the saffron plank of “cultural nationalism”, the BJP president raised the issue of protecting Ram Sethu and announced that in future the rules would be amended to get the Sethu “listed among world heritage sites of the UNESCO.”
Rajnath Singh sought
“a special area” in the Kashmir valley for rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits and removing of discrimination in allotment of development funds between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. He also reiterated the need to have “a political consensus” for abrogation of Article 370 with reference to the border state.
123 Agreement
The Indo-US civil nuclear deal came in for sharp scrutiny from Rajnath who said there seemed to be “only political assurances” and “no legal binding” on the “assured fuel supply” to India.
“Our testing options appear to have been eliminated and there is no legally binding agreement on assured fuel supply,” the BJP president said. He contrasted Indian “surrender to nuclear testing rights” with that of the Chinese intention to conduct further nuclear tests.
He wondered whether by agreeing to the terms of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, India had not converted the unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing “into a multilateral commitment”. He feared the regional security balance could be tilted against India in the event of China and Pakistan opting to conduct nuclear tests.