Own up failure to contain terrorism, resign: Jaya tells UPA govt

Chennai, Sep 20 (UNI) AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa today said the Congress-led UPA government should quit owning moral responsbility for the recent terror attacks in New Delhi and entrust the task of enacting a new law to tackle terrorism to a new government with a fresh mandate.

In a statement here, she recalled the spate of blasts that took place in the country over the last four years and the repeal of POTA and said the government had ''lost its moral right to govern.'' Observing that the latest blasts in the national capital, which claimed 24 lives were yet another blot on the ''miserable track record of the UPA government'', Ms Jayalalithaa said the government should own responsbility for all the ills confronting the nation and quit.

''The task of enacting a new law to tackle terrorism should be left to a new government with a fresh mandate,'' she added.

She said between July 2005 and now, 37 people were killed in terror strikes in Varanasi, 209 in Mumbai, 16 in Hyderabad, 68 in Jaipur, two in Bangalore and 55 in Ahmedabad. Besides, hundreds of people were killed in Kashmir by home-grown terrorists.

Accusing the Centre of resorting to blame game, Ms Jayalalithaa said the latest victim of this was Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, whom she described as the ''weakest link'' in India's war on terror.

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