07-16-2006, 08:11 PM
<b>UPA in complicity with terror elements for poll gains: Jaswant </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bangalore, July 16: Senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh today charged the UPA government with being in complicity with "terrorist elements" for electoral gains.
Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, alleged at a press conference here that in the last elections in Assam, the UPA had an "electoral understanding" with ULFA, while in Andhra Pradesh, it had encouraged Maoists, who had publicly made a statement that they had made an attempt on the life of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
He said the government continued to neglect national security.
On the recent Mumbai blasts, Singh said the government's assertions of fighting terrorism are "empty' and termed its statements "ritual". These assertions and statements do not have the strength or supporting policies or conviction of action to deal with the situation.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government would use all weapons to fight terrorism after the Mumbai blasts, was a "borrowed phrase" from the us. "He (the prime minister) should say what weapon he will use in India'.
Asked if it was "intelligence failure" that was responsible for Mumbai blasts, Singh said it was the "intelligence of the government that has failed".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, alleged at a press conference here that in the last elections in Assam, the UPA had an "electoral understanding" with ULFA, while in Andhra Pradesh, it had encouraged Maoists, who had publicly made a statement that they had made an attempt on the life of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
He said the government continued to neglect national security.
On the recent Mumbai blasts, Singh said the government's assertions of fighting terrorism are "empty' and termed its statements "ritual". These assertions and statements do not have the strength or supporting policies or conviction of action to deal with the situation.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government would use all weapons to fight terrorism after the Mumbai blasts, was a "borrowed phrase" from the us. "He (the prime minister) should say what weapon he will use in India'.
Asked if it was "intelligence failure" that was responsible for Mumbai blasts, Singh said it was the "intelligence of the government that has failed".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->