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Advani denies Centre withdrew forces from Bihar

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Union Home Minister L K Advani has refuted Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav's charge that the Centre withdrew a portion of its forces from Bihar.

Speaking to the media at the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club, Advani said Yadav's statement that eight companies of the Rapid Action Force and nine of the Central Reserve Police force were called back was not true.

Yadav had also claimed that the Jehanabad massacre was a direct result of this.

"We have not withdrawn any forces from Bihar, the scene of frequent massacres," the home minister said, and added that the presence of central forces continued to be 'pretty high' there. ''We don't have any intention of withdrawing them. If necessary, more forces will be sent.''

The government was watching the situation closely, and Union officials were in constant touch with their Bihar counterparts, he added.

Advani accused the Congress of committing political hara-kiri in the state, where the situation is of utter anarchy. Murder, rape, abduction and extortion abound. The contrasting stands that the Congress took in the past month were not only irrational but chaotic too, he said.

Advani said the core issue with regard to the situation in Bihar was not crime, but the patronage and protection given to crime by the state government. ''This is the worrisome aspect of the situation.''

What was needed in the state was not more forces, but political will, he added.

Asked if he did not see a fresh ground for the dismissal of the Rabri Devi government in light of the carnage, Advani said, "What we had done there earlier was justified."

Advani also had a jab at the Communist parties. He said they were acting as a "B-team of the Congress", trying to install a Congress government at the Centre.

Asked about the plight of the Central Vigilance Commission Ordinance, the home minister said the government was seriously considering the matter. The Ordinance is bound to lapse if a bill is not passed before April 12. He accused the Congress of following an obstructionist approach in this regard and said that it (the Congress) should take the responsibility if the Ordinance lapses.

Speaking about Mohan Guruswamy, the advisor to the finance minister who was dismissed, Advani said: "He had not made any corruption charges against the BJP government. His charge that myself and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee are fighting is ludicrous".

The home minister said Guruswamy was appointed, and sacked, with their joint consent.

About the Union government's shifting the corruption cases against All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Jayalalitha from one court to another, Advani said it was not a scam but a legal matter.

Advani evaded a direct comment about Bharatiya Janata Party Kerala unit president C K Padmanabhan's charge that the state has emerged as a "hot spot" for terrorists.

"The enemies of India are trying to spread terrorism and violence all over the country," he said, "There are some terrorist elements in Kerala too. Some forces in Kerala are directly linked with the Coimbatore blasts."

Asked about the confusion over People's Democratic Party chief Abdul Nassar Madani's release, the home minister said it was due to a bureaucratic bungling. Though the National Security Act has been revoked, Madani will continue in jail because there are several serious cases against him. He has almost emerged as the main conspirator in the Coimbatore blast case by slipping from 112 to 4 in the list of accused, Advani said.

Replying to another question, he said the Central government was prepared to amend the Constitution for providing more reservation to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But the Opposition should co-operate with the government.

Referring to Kashmir, the home minister said the situation there had vastly improved in the first year of the BJP rule. More than 100,000 foreign tourists visited the state last year. The Union government would do everything possible to restore the confidence of the Kashmiris, he added.

Advani claimed that India had become stronger in the past 12 months. "We are now acknowledged as a nuclear power. Atalji's bus-ride to Lahore was a historic and moving event. We can now claim that we have improved our relationship with our neighbours without sacrificing India's interests," he added.

The Cauvery issue was an issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for long. "We have been able to come up with the solution acceptable to all parties," he said.

The home minister said the BJP government has succeeded in reviving an economy caught in recession, which it inherited from the Congress.

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