Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir were a desperate attempt by Pakistan to disrupt peace as it is frustrated by a high voter turn out in the state.
Addressing a news conference here, Naidu said that Pakistan is aiding, abetting, funding and training terrorists.
“It is a known secret for the entire world. They have been doing it continuously. They now want to derail the election process because people in Jammu and Kashmir have defied the diktats of Pakistan supported organisations and separatist forces and overwhelmingly voted,” the minister, who comes from Andhra Pradesh, said.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also said that the 72 percent voter turnout is a record in the present situation and that too in winter.
He said the entire country should speak in one voice and condemn the terrorists and their masters in Pakistan.
He decried attempts by some people to see politics even in these attacks. A communist leader was saying on a television channel that the attacks have to be seen in the backdrop of elections and efforts to polarise voters, Naidu added.
A total of 21 people — eight soldiers, three policemen, two civilians apart from eight militants — were killed in four attacks in Kashmir Friday, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a campaign stop in Srinagar.
On the BJP’s likely performance in the ongoing five-phase Jammu and Kashmir elections, Naidu said the party stands a good chance.
“We will improve our strength like anything. You are seeing a lot of Muslim women campaigning and standing as candidates of the BJP in the valley. Things are changing. People are seeing only development and Modi,” he said.
On the proposed alternative organisation in place of the Planning Commission, Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started a series of discussions. He has consulted cabinet colleagues, experts, former members of the Planning Commission and economists and he has now called a chief ministers’ meet to seek their views.