UPA not hanging Afzal to gain votes: Advani

Ahmedabad: BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Sunday raked up the issue of Afzal Guru and said that the UPA government was delaying his execution thinking they will get votes by doing so.

“They (the UPA) are saying that there were terrorist attacks like the one on Parliament and Akshardham when I was Home Minister, I say yes I accept it. But see what we have done in the case. We caught the conspirators, prosecuted them and convicted them,” Advani said, addressing an election rally in New Vadaj area of the city.

“One of the main accused was given death sentence. He appealed in higher courts but it was rejected. Still he has not been hanged. If he (Afzal) were Anand Singh or Anand Mohan then he would have been hanged by now. I would like to ask Manmohan Singh is it just because he is Afzal Guru he is not being hanged?” Advani asked.

“I have talked to my Muslim brothers; they too are not for this decision. They say that government was taking their name and doing wrong things, we are not saying don't punish the terrorists,” he said.

He said, “If the UPA government is thinking that by delaying execution of Afzal Guru they will get votes, then they are wrong... India's Muslims are saying that by doing this the government was defaming their community.”

Advani, who has till now addressed election rallies in over 90 Parliamentary constituencies, said that BJP government in Gujarat has done well and that is why people are talking about it in the entire country.

“In Gujarat, our government is doing well. Despite of Special Economic Zones coming up here, the farmers are not complaining. This is something that we should be proud of,” Advani said.

He said that the “corruption” by the UPA after the Left withdrew support from the government following the Nuclear agreement with the US was the worst of its kind that he has seen since Independence.

Advani was also of the opinion that there was no better invention than the modern internet which has the potential to change the way on looks at education, providing healthcare, and maintaining security.