Terrorism is key issue in LS polls: Arun Jaitley

Senior BJP leader and party candidate for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat Arun Jaitley today categorically stated that the issue of terrorism will be a key one during the general elections.

Pointing to the fact that Indian security agencies have recently arrested a top Indian Mujahideen terrorist, who was a Pakistani national, and busted a Rajasthan-based module which had planned to attack senior leaders during the elections, Jaitley said this was a clear indication that terrorism needed to be handled with tough hands.

"I compliment our security agencies who were involved in this process (IM Arrests). India's internal security has been of key concern to all, particularly for us in the BJP. India cannot afford to lower its guard, " said Jaitley, who was accompanied by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Minister Bikram Majithia during an event to inaugurate the BJP-SAD Media Centre at the Chhina complex in the heart of the city.

Accompanied by Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma and deputy chief Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, Jaitley said the threat comes from groups across the border which are supported by both state and non-state actors.

"It also comes from various indigenous modules. The threat further comes from various Maoist groups, who believe in overthrowing India's parliamentary democracy through violence. It is being suspected that various terrorist attacks in the recent years were engineered by these groups," said Jaitley.

He described the issue as serious and called for it to be addressed on a priority basis.

"As security agencies work overtime to track the activities of these groups, it is surprising that the political establishment of the home ministry recently announced that they had no information about any threat to political leaders, particularly of the BJP during the election campaign. Attempts would be made by insurgents to disturb India's general elections. Our security establishments cannot afford to fail even once, and must always be ahead of these insurgent groups in tracking and busting their activities like this one," he said.

On a question regarding resolving the Kashmir issue, Jaitley said the matter needs to be solved through "Insaniyat" or humaneness.

"I have read the statements of various political groups in the Kashmir valley suggesting that the NDA Government in the past was more honest in addressing the issues of Jammu and Kashmir rather than the UPA Government," he said.

He asked: "Most of these groups are ideologically opposed to the BJP. Why then, should they be more optimistic about the BJP's sincerity on the issues of Jammu and Kashmir?"

"Our approach will be guided by Atal Behari Vajpayee's pronouncement that all issues will be resolved within the dimensions of Insanyiat," he said.

Jaitley said that during the elections, he would not resort to any personal attacks on his Congress rival Captain Amarinder Singh.

"I reacted on Sonia hailing not from India but from abroad only after he raked up the issue of my being an outsider. I never wanted to raise personal issues, but those which are public-oriented," he said.

He reiterated that he believed he would win the Amritsar LS seat by a substantial margin.