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BJP : It is Advani vs. Vajpayee again

	April 17, 2006

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would be staying away from the Uttar Pradesh capital, Lucknow, when senior party leader L.K. Advani’s Bharat Suraksha Yatra reaches there. Vajpayee is reported to have taken strong exception to Advani’s claim that he as Home Minister in the NDA Government had opposed the swap of hardcore terrorists for passengers on board hijacked IC 814 aircraft in Dec. 1999. Vajpayee is learnt to have told party chief Rajnath Singh, “This was completely unnecessary.” He is also learnt to have put across to Rajnath Singh his reluctance to receive Advani’s yatra in his Lok Sabha constituency of Lucknow.



Media reports say that Vajpayee spoke to Advani at least twice asking him to clarify his remark about his opposition to freeing terrorists during the Kandahar hijack crisis.



Hours after Advani made the remark at a press conference in Pune on April 11, Vajpayee called him and asked him to issue a clarification since he felt a “dead” issue was being brought to life. But Advani declined, upsetting Vajpayee.



On Friday, April 14, BJP president Rajnath Singh confirmed Vajpayee would not make it to Advani’s yatra rally in Lucknow on May 6, but denied it had anything to do with the Kandahar controversy. Rajnath Singh said, “Vajpayee is undergoing physiotherapy. Since the course is for 20-25 days, he will not be able to visit Lucknow.” He said he had spoken to Vajpayee on phone and there was no reference to Kandahar.



During their phone conversation, Advani apparently explained his Pune remarks to Vajpayee and said he did not see the need for a clarification. But Vajpayee thought Advani should not have allowed the focus to be shifted to the Kandahar episode. He was upset that Advani did not touch upon the achievements of the NDA Government. Kandahar was a low-point in Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister and it was best left unsaid.



Advani consulted his aides after Vajpayee’s telephone call. They said he could not go back on his position when his opposition to the release of the terrorists was well known. Advani felt he had only responded to a question from a reporter and not made a statement,





Uma Bharati, Khurana to defy BJP



Two former stalwarts of the BJP, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati, and former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana have said that they would jointly challenge the party and strive for what they called a new bend in Indian politics. Announcing their plans in New Delhi on April 9, Uma Bharati said, “This is the beginning of a new political era in Indian politics. Ours is a struggle for both Roti (food), and Ram (God).” Without giving any other details, she indicated launching a platform where issues closer to the poor would find resonance along with matters related to Hindutva.





Friday blasts rock Delhi and Srinagar



Serial bomb blasts carried out by terrorists in Delhi and Srinagar on Friday, April 14, sent another grim reminder to the security forces of the plans of anti-national forces to create mayhem.



After a lull of five months, militants set off a series of grenade explosions in Srinagar, killing five people including two women, and injuring more than 30. The first five blasts within a span of less than an hour, started just before noon, ahead of Friday prayers, triggering panic. The blasts resumed in the evening when there was a grenade attack on a police patrol in downtown Srinagar. Coming on the Friday of the week of Milad-un-Nabi, the blasts were timed when larger than usual crowds headed for the mosques.



Srinagar Police refused to comment on who were behind the blasts, but several militant groups sent messages through local media groups claiming responsibility.



The historic Jama Masjid in Delhi was rocked by twin blasts on Friday evening injuring more than 15 people, one of them seriously,. Delhi police said the blasts were of low intensity triggered by crude explosives packed with shrapnel. Police Commissioner K.K. Paul said that terrorist involvement cannot be ruled out. There were hundreds of people in Jama Masjid when the blasts took place.



The Jama Masjid Imam appealed to the people to maintain calm. He said the explosions were the acts of certain people who wanted to whip up communal passions and create disturbance in the country.



President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leaders of different parties condemned the explosions in Delhi and Srinagar and asked the people to maintain peace.



Jammu and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad termed the Srinagar blasts as an act of cowardice. Those behind them were enemies of peace and humanity. They would be dealt with strictly. “But such attacks will not deter us from carrying forward the peace process.”



The former Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, expressed grief over the loss of lives. “All of us need to condemn such blasts aimed at disrupting peace,” he said.



State Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd.) S. K. Sinha said such incidents were “lunatic acts” of those who have no regard for human values and that terrorism has no place in any civilised society.