By IANS,
New Delhi : Stung by references to the Kandahar plane hijack of
1999, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday urged Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh to stop his party and cabinet colleagues from making “condemnable”
statements.
The party referred to Sunday’s statement by Congress general secretary
Digvijay Singh that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government avoided
a repeat of the Kandahar plane hijack in Mumbai by rejecting the terrorists’
demand to release some jailed militants in exchange for the hostages they
had taken.
Ministers of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal and Shakeel Ahmed have also
made similar statements.
“The BJP strongly condemns the completely irresponsible statement by the
ministers and the Congress general secretary,” party spokesperson Ravi
Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
“This (the utterances) is a cruel joke in a matter relating to the country’s
security. We appeal the prime minister to control them,” he said.
The party was also critical of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s statement
that the unprecedent victory of the BJP in Jammu region was the victory of
“divisive politics”.
The BJP won 11 seats in the region in the just-concluded elections to the
Jammu and Kashmir assembly. In 2002, the party had won only one seat.
“It (the statement) is an insult to the choice by the people of Jammu and
Kashmir,” Prasad said.