By IANS,
New Delhi : Responding to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s criticism of the government, the Congress Monday said the BJP was trying to sensationalise the terror attacks.
“Let me ask our friends in the opposition: The terror attacks on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat, the Raghunath temple in Jammu and parliament took place during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime. We would like to know how many times (then home minister) L.K. Advani was asked to resign and how many times did he resign,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters here.
He was responding to the BJP’s repeated demand for Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s resignation in the wake of a series of terrorist attacks across the country in the recent months.
Defending Patil, the spokesperson said: “There is no question of referendum against a single person. Please don’t blame an individual for everything.”
Asked why Patil was not present at a special Congress meet Monday morning, Singhvi said: “These meetings are private and its details are not briefed to the media. The home minister has been attending several meetings in the last three days and if he didn’t attend one meeting you can understand the reason behind it.”
Singhvi said: “We appeal to all national and state political parties to reach a consensus for a federal anti-terror agency as it requires amendment in legislation and states should ratify it.
“We are open to all constructive suggestions to fine-tune the Unlawful Prevention Activities Act. Measures are already being taken to improve policing in the country,” he added.
After serial bombings in Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad this year, there were five explosions in New Delhi Saturday evening, claiming at least 23 lives.