Ahmedabad, Sep 4 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi were “politicising” terrorism, a state Congress leader said Thursday, reminding them of a slew of terror attacks when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was in power. Arjun Modhwadia, recently appointed chief spokesperson for the state unit of the Congress, told mediapersons that Advani and Modi were “politicising terrorism rather than facing the challenge it posed”.

He was responding to the two leaders’ remarks at a press meet in New Delhi Wednesday, criticising the Congress-led central government’s response to recent terror attacks.

While Modi has repeatedly voiced his demand for the president’s assent to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime bill passed in 2002 to fight terrorism in the state, Modhwadia said: “We have no objection to GujCOC. Let them convene an assembly meeting and debate the issue properly which was never done. The idea behind this draconian law seems to be to stifle free speech and terrorise the innocents.”

while Modi claims the assembly passed the bill twice, he glosses over the fact that it was passed after the opposition was thrown out of the house, Modhwadia added.

Referring to the July 26 serial bombings in Ahmedabad and subsequent recovery of 20-odd bombs from Surat, the Congress leader said the central intelligence agencies had informed Modi and Minister of State for Home Amit Shah about terrorists’ plans.