UPA against NE development: Rudy

Itanagar, Oct 24: Flaying the Congress-led UPA government, the BJP today said rising infiltration and insurgency in the region were a testimony to the Centre's "anti- northeast policy".

BJP spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy, a former union minister who arrived here yesterday to attend the two-day state BJP executive meeting, told a news conference before leaving for Goa, that terrorist activities were spreading far and wide and internal security situation was deteriorating across the country.

Alleging that large scale influx of foreign nationals in the Northeast was made possible because of vote bank policy of the Congress, Mr Rudy said that Arunachal Pradesh was also affected as it had disturbed the peace and opportunities for youngsters.

Commenting on the Indo-US nuclear deal, he said the BJP would support the deal only if there was a 'course correction" on the agreement and amendment in the Atomic Energy Act. No compromise shall be made on the strategic military activities undertaken by the country, he said.

Stating that the ground primarily taken by the nuke agreement was to meet the energy requirements of the country, Mr Rudy wondered why the UPA was not interested in tapping the environment friendly power potential of 60,000 mw in a single state of Northeast like Arunachal, while the estimated nuke energy would be only around 20,000 mw. Claiming that mid-term Lok Sabha election was inevitable, the BJP leader alleged that the UPA government was ''directionless'' because of the infighting with the Left. It was in the interest of democracy that the election should be held at the earliest, he added. ''We condemn the attitude of the UPA government for destroying the secular nature of the Constitution,'' he said while referring to the Ram Sethu issue that rocked the country recently.

He also alleged that despite assurance by the UPA government for a fair remunerative price for paddy growers, it failed to do so. 'The Minimum Support Price for paddy growers should commensurate with production,'' he said.

UNI