NE NEWS SERVICE
HARDOI/LAKHIMPUR KEHRI, FEB 20
Targeting rival parties at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the Ahmedabad bomb blasts and said some parties are sympathetic to such terrorists and accused the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government of seeking withdrawal of cases against those involved in terror attacks in the state.
Addressing the BJP rally in Hardoi, PM Modi said the people here have seen how the Samajwadi Party, when in government, gave a free hand to those using ‘katta’ (country-made pistols) and its cadres.
- Ahmedabad blast convict’s father has links with party, says Yogi
“People of Hardoi have seen those days when these people had given a free hand to those using ‘katta’ and those in ‘satta’ (power),” he said.
PM Modi recalled the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts which claimed 56 lives and left over 200 injured, and said some parties are sympathetic to such terrorists.
The erstwhile Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh even sought to withdraw cases against several terrorists, he charged.
Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday accused the Samajwadi Party of being sympathetic towards terrorists, alleging that the father of one of the convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast case has links with the party.
The chief minister made the allegation while addressing an election rally in Lakhimpur Kehri which goes to the polls on fourth phase of the seven-phase state assembly elections.
“Why does the SP have sympathy towards these terrorists? Will the people support those who play with the security of the nation?” the chief minister asked while urging people to vote for the BJP to let the state stay riot free.
Adityanath posted the twin query while referring to Ahmedabad’s anti-terror court ruling in the 2008 serial blasts in the city and saying that one of the convicts in the terror case belonged to the Sanjarpur area of Azamgarh district.
“The court delivered a historic judgement and gave death sentence to 38 convicts. One of the terrorists belonged to Azamgarh’s Sanjarpur area,” Adityanath told the rally.
The father of one of the terrorists has links with the Samajwadi Party and he has been campaigning for the SP, the chief minister further alleged amid the ongoing voting for the third phase of elections on 59 assembly seats elsewhere in the state.
On February 18, a special court in Ahmedabad in Gujarat had sentenced to death 38 members of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the serial blasts case. The court also sentenced 11 other convicts to life imprisonment.
The prime minister also targeted the rival parties over the politics of appeasement. “Those who used to stop our festivals owing to their politics of appeasement, they will get an answer from the people of Uttar Pradesh on March 10,” he said.
Results of the seven-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be announced on March 10.
