Ludhiana, May 10: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi on Sunday charged Congress with playing "votebank" politics
over the issue of hanging Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru
and took a dig at the UPA government for its stand on Italian
businessman Ottavio Quattrochi.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi in an election rally had said that the “Parliament attack accused is twenty-second on the list (those who are to be hanged for various crimes). There is a huge line and there are others before him. When his number (turn) comes, he will be hanged. Whose creation is Afzal Guru? Who sent him (to carry out terror act)? It was Masood Azhar, the top terrorist who was in jail but was released by BJP-led NDA government."
Addressing the NDA rally here, Modi ridiculed the
Congress-led regime saying, "In Congress rule, one has to be
in queue for everything right from getting ration, essential
commodities, and employment.
"In fact, Congress has become so used to queues, that it
says even Afzal Guru`s file is in queue. Have you ever heard
that somebody has to be in queue even for capital punishment?"
Countering Rahul Gandhi, who had made overtures to woo
Sikhs during his rally yesterday, Modi asked why the Congress
government, which had taken "just 15 minutes" to decide on the
death sentence of a youth of the community who was convicted
for killing then Army chief General Vaidya in the 1980s, has
"delayed" the hanging of Afzal Guru.
"The Sikh youth`s family had submitted a mercy petition
after he was awarded death sentence by the Supreme Court, but
your (Rahul) family`s government took just 15 minutes to
decide in the Cabinet to hang him and 24 hours later he was
hanged. But in case of Afzal Guru, his hanging is being
delayed because of the votebank politics," Modi alleged.
The Gujarat Chief Minister also said, "While Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh says Quattrochi should not be harassed
when there is no proof against him, I would like to ask him as
to why he is quiet on the plight of millions of Tamils who are
facing atrocities in Sri Lanka?"
Modi also lauded BJP`s Prime Ministerial candidate L K
Advani for introducing the Ladli Lakshmi scheme for the
benefit of girl child and for promising to introduce the "one
rank-one pension" scale for the armed forces in the party`s
manifesto.
He appealed to the people to unite against the shameful
practice of female foeticide which, he said, is prevalent in
north Indian states.
Further, Modi blamed the UPA government for not
implementing the river interlinking scheme, which had been
introduced by former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.
Bureau Report
