Centre preventing UP from electing next prez: Modi

Varanasi, Apr 29: Alleging that the Centre was conspiring to deprive Uttar Pradesh from voting in the July next presidential polls, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today appealed to the people here to vote for the BJP to bring goddess of fortune 'Lakshmi' back to the state.

''The Delhi sultanate is working to deprive the people of this politically most crucial state from electing the next president in July. If you vote on caste lines and end up forming a hung assembly, the larger national impact of the fractured verdict will be that the state will be deprived from voting in presidential polls,'' Mr Modi said, addressing a massive election meeting in the Varanasi (South) assembly constituency.

''Vote for a BJP government to have the first citizen of your choice,'' Mr Modi maintained dropping enough hints about the possibility of president rule in UP in event of a hung assembly.

In his trademark 45-minute speech, Mr Modi urged the masses to shun casteist politics of the SP and the BSP, who were eclipsing the development of the state.

The BJP leader observed ''the goddess of fortune 'Lakshmi' does not ride on a cycle or an elephant (the SP and the BSP poll symbols), but is only fond of the lotus. So, let the BJP lotus bloom in every assembly constituency to install a majority government of Kalyan Singh.'' ''I promise you the BJP, on the back of a two-point formula of clear policy and honest intentions, will bring back UP on such a development path which will even be envied by now prosperous Gujarat,'' he claimed.

In a hard hitting speech, changing the tack towards UPA government's failure in tackling terror, Mr Modi said the recent Srinagar rally of separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani proved that the Manmohan Singh-led Congress regime at the Centre was pursuing a policy of ''Samiksha-Pratiksha'' in dealing with terrorism.

''Look what happened after March 7, 2006 blast at the Sankatmochan temple in Varanasi. The government promised to probe the matter (samiksha) and this attitude meant that it was waiting (pratiksha) for another terror act in the form of serial blasts in Mumbai suburban trains,'' he underlined.

''The day when the UPA regime led by Mr Singh scrapped the Prevention Of Terrorism Act (POTA), there were celebrations in Pakistan and helplessness among our security personnel,'' Mr Modi said.

Then came the clemency petition of Mohd Afzal facing death sentence in the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack case. Sadly, six months have gone and the clemency petition remained unentertained only for the sake of ''vote bank politics of minority appeasement'', he added.

''If the mercy petition of Major General A S Vaidya's killer could be disposed and rejected by the Union Cabinet only within half-an-hour in the past, what is stopping from disposing similar petition of Mohd Afzal who masterminded to blow up our democracy?'' Mr Modi asked.

Taking up the issue of Bangladeshi insurgency in Asom, Mr Modi claimed ''Muslims from the Northeast once met me asking to help them get rid of Bangladesh insurgents... only because the jobs of their children were being snatched away by those from across the border.'' ''Aaj Asom Bangladesh se pareshan hai....par mere karan poora Pakistan pareshan hai,'' Mr Modi said to the applause of public.

UNI