Anti-BJP forces are scared of Yatras: BJP

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani today said some political parties, particularly some constituents of the UPA, had launched a disinformation campaign against the proposed twin yatras to be undertaken by him and BJP president Rajnath Singh as the past experience had shown that such yatras had changed nation's polity.

Mr Advani, who was addressing the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting which extended all the support for the success of the twin yatras to be undertaken next month to expose UPA on many issues, said such yatras were the best instrument to communicate with the people and highlight the problems being faced by the country.

The anti-BJP parties knew it well that whenever such yatras were taken out these had brought about a significant change in nation's polity. These parties were feeling restless and therefore started a misinformation campaign against it, he said.

During the yatras, he said, they would expose the UPA votebank politics vis-a-vis appeasement policy for the minorities to win their votes. They would inform the people how the laws were amended in the Shahbano case. How the government was trying to provide reservation on the basis of religion in Andhra Pradesh and its effort to give a minority status to the Aligarh Muslim University, he added.

Addressing newspersons, BJP Parliamentary party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the party as well as all its leaders, including Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were fully backing these yatras which, however, would not touch the five states going to the polls next months.

Mr Malhotra said however both Mr Advani and Mr Singh would address election meetings in these states.

Besides they would also expose the Government's intention behind setting up Justice Banerjee panel to save the accused in the Godhra Train burning incident of 2001 and its effort to communalise the defence forces by ordering a headcount of Muslims in the forces through the Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee, he asserted.

In the meeting chaired by Mr Vajpayee, the members expressed concern over the damage of crops in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by untimely rains and called for adequate compensation be paid to the affected farmers.

The members also referred to recent incidents of Naxalite strikes in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and said it was happening because of the weak policy of the Centre to rein in the menace.

He said Naxalites were understood to have crossed over from the adjoining states of West Bengal and Bihar as a revenge against the NDA, which had taken very strong measures to curb their activities.

UNI KAS/MCN RL GC1653