(By Pradeep Kashyap and M Chenna Nagaraj)

Dehra Dun, Sep 7 (UNI) Terming the absence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi at the centenary celebrations of 'Vande Mataram' as a ''conscious'' decision, BJP President Rajnath Singh today said her abstinence was compelled by vote bank politics.

The BJP President said this was a ''conscious decision and not a casual one'' intended to pursue the vote bank politics in the next round of elections.

Mr Singh said it was the UPA Government which announced the year-long celebrations of the National Song composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and was first sung at the AICC session at Varanasi in 1905.

''Her absence has established that Sonia's Congress has no legacy of the original Congress which fought for the freedom of the country,'' he said at the inaugural session of the three-day National Executive here.

The party also criticised the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several of his colleagues in the Cabinet, saying that they were all looking at the message beamed by 10 Janpath, BJP Spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told newspersons.

He said the BJP President had demanded to amend the Article 51 (A), making it the duty of a citizen to respect and honour Vande Mataram like he was required to do it in respect of the National Flag and the National Anthem. He also offered his party's support to such an amendment if the UPA brings it in the Parliament.

The party will support any legislation sought to be brought by the government to provide for one third reservation for women by proportionately expanding the strength of the Parliament and Legislatures.

Stating that tackling terrorism required ''killer instinct and not healing touch'', the BJP President lent his party's helping hand to pass a strong anti-terror law to deal with the menace.

''They may have alergy for naming it POTA but the BJP will not mind extending its support as long as the law contained provisions empowering the authorities and the courts of law to punish the guilty,'' he said.

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