New Delhi: The terror attacks in the temple town of Varanasi have drawn widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed to the people to maintain calm. “The Prime Minister has appealed for maintaining peace and calm. He is constantly monitoring the situation. He has condemned the blasts,” PM’s media adviser Sanjaya Baru said.
UPA Chairperson and Congress President has condemned the blasts. She said the incidents were ‘mindless acts of terrorism’ and expressed her deep concern and anguish at the loss of life in the blasts.
Main Opposition BJP said the ‘soft’ policies of the UPA government towards terrorism and the ‘minority appeasement politics’ of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh were responsible for the blasts.
BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said party President Rajnath Singh is leaving for Varanasi to study the situation.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has also condemned the blasts and said that the Centre has alerted all the states to be vigilant in the wake of the blasts to ensure that no untoward incidents take place.
Patil told reporters after a meeting with officials that he has spoken to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on the situation in the state after the blasts and the Union Home Secretary was in continuous touch with the state Chief Secretary.
He said the Uttar Pradesh government has been asked to take steps to see that the situation did not not go out of control. Similarly, other states have been asked to be vigilant so that no no untoward incidents take place, he added.
Patil refused to give any figures about the death toll in the two blasts at the Sankatmochan temple and the Varanasi Cantonment railway station, saying various figures were flowing in.
PAGE_BREAK
He said he would be meeting the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and was considering a visit to Varanasi on Wednesday.
Patil is currently holding a meeting with Varanasi MPs.
The Centre has, meanwhile, placed five companies consisting of 500 personnel of the CRPF at the disposal of Uttar Pradesh government to beef up security in the state.
Of this, 200 personnel have been given for deployment in Varanasi itself, official sources said.
The Union Home Ministry called an emergency meeting in New Delhi to review the security situation and a high alert has been declared in Maharashtra, Bihar and Delhi.
Security has been beefed up in all temples in the capital and a high alert has been declared across North India.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav also held an emergency meeting to review the situation. He also announced Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia for the relatives of the dead and Rs 1 lakh to each of the injured.
Expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti has blamed the Uttar Pradesh government for the blasts. “The UP government is responsible for this incident. We don’t want any communal division in the state.”
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Salman Khurshid called it ‘a work of sick mind’. “I hope that nothing provocative happens. All communities must come together at this situation.”
Bilal Lone of the Hurriyat conference has also condemned the blasts and called it a dastardly act of terrorism.
Comments
0 comment