Political unity goes for a six

The show of political unity after militants took Mumbai hostage on Wednesday came to an abrupt end when leader of the opposition LK Advani slammed the Centre on Friday for incompetence in handling terrorism.

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who rarely issues statements these days due to failing health, too joined in the attack. Expressing anguish at the loss of innocent lives in the series of attacks in Mumbai, he said the Congress had made a mess of governance. Vajpayee appealed to the people of Delhi to elect a government that can fight terror “tooth and nail”.

In a message on the eve of Delhi assembly elections, the former prime minister said there was a general sense of insecurity among the city’s people caused by crime and terrorism.

In another statement, Advani urged prime minister Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of chief ministers to draw up a plan to contain the new danger of sea-borne terror.

“I again urge the PM to summon a conference of CMs of all states on the western coastline to activate a firm strategy to deal with the new threat of sea-borne terror,” he said.

Advani expressed hope that the government, even at the fag end of its tenure, would devise a robust and zero-tolerance policy to tackle terrorism.

He also blamed Manmohan for going to Mumbai alone and not appearing together to send out a strong message of unity.

Advani said he had agreed to the PM’s suggestion on Thursday that the go together to Mumbai, but he was told in the afternoon to wait till Friday as the commando operation was continuing. He said by then it was too late for him to change his campaign schedule in Rajasthan and he proceeded to Mumbai promising to stay away from areas of action.
He later learnt the PM was following and was told he would be informed of the time and venue for their meeting and making a joint appearance, but he “received no word thereafter”