'Cong. has no specific objection to POTO'

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 25. The Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, said here today that the Opposition was campaigning against the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) without specifying its reasons.

Addressing a `Meet-the-Press' programme at the Press Club here, the Union Minister said that laws similar to POTO existed in the Congress-ruled States such as Karnataka and Maharashtra. The Congress leadership gave no details about how POTO differed from those laws.

Mr. Naidu recalled that the Congress had introduced draconian legislations like the Defence of India Act and TADA in the past. Its opposition to POTO was like devil quoting the scriptures, he commented.

POTO, he said, is needed in toto in view of the increased threat from terrorism. Terrorists were planning to hit India and Israel after America. The law was brought after much consultations. About 53,000 people had died in terrorist violence in the past. The country could not progress without establishing peace.

Various concerns that had been expressed in relation to the enforcement of TADA had been addressed in the new legislation, he said. There was provision for appeal before the High Court. The allegation that POTO would be misused against Muslims was only a propaganda by pseudo secularists. Terrorism was not being defined in terms of religion.

The Minister said that the Government's success in eliminating terrorism depended on its will. The Government was determined to stamp out terrorism.

He said that the AIADMK's support for POTO was no indication of any impending political realignments. The BJP ties with the DMK remained strong. The AIADMK was supporting the law as it had come face to face with terrorism in the past.

Mr. Naidu said that there was nothing wrong with the reinduction of Mr. George Fernandes as Defence Minister. There was no corruption charge against Mr. Fernandes. He was facing no inquiry and no charge-sheet or affidavit had been filed against him. The Congress, CPI(M) and CPI were opposing his reinduction after supporting Ms. Jayalalithaa's assumption of the office of the Chief Minister despite her conviction in a corruption case.

He said that none had asked Mr. Fernandes to resign following the Tehelka expose. He had resigned on his own to keep up the morale of the forces against the background of the allegations that had been blown up out of proportions.

He said that the Kerala Government should be focusing on people's welfare instead of political controversies. The Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, was spending much of his energy in managing tension in his party. While he was happy as a political opponent that the Congress Government was getting discredited, those developments were not in the best interest of the State.

He said that the allocation to Kerala under the project for improving rural connectivity was low because Kerala had better connectivity. However, the allocation for Kerala would be doubled this year (from Rs. 20 crores to Rs. 40 crores).

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Section  : Southern States
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