By IANS,
Bangalore : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu Wednesday said the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) will be brought back if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the party is voted to power in the April-May Lok Sabha polls.
“We will bring back POTA in 100 days if voted to power,” Naidu told reporters here after a meeting with state BJP leaders.
POTA came into force in 2002 when the NDA was in power. It was repealed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by Congress in September 2004.
Naidu, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, expressed confidence that in the ensuing elections the BJP will improve on its performance in the 2004 polls when it won 18 of the 28 seats in the state.
The BJP leader also said the third front being formed by the Janata Dal-Secular, (JD-S) Left parties, Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and AIADMK was a non-starter.
Naidu was here to finalise the list of party candidates for the two-phase polls in the state April 23 and 30. The party has already announced the candidates for nine seats.
BJP’s first chief minister in Karnataka B.S. Yeddyurappa said that the party will win at least 22 seats this time.
The third front in Karnataka may take shape March 12 when the JD-S is organising a public meeting near Tumkur, around 70 km from Bangalore. JD-S president and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda has invited leaders of the Left parties, TDP and AIADMK for the meeting.