BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar accuses oppn leaders of defending terrorists

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar accused the Congress and CPM of defending the terrorists responsible for the attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam due to their supposed criticism of the security measures in place.

Chandrasekhar questioned why Robert Vadra, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, V D Satheesan, and CPM general secretary M A Baby were "defending the terrorists from Pakistan".

The BJP leader also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have assured that India will respond to the attack.

"Let there be no doubt about that," he said.

"Why are Robert Vadra, V D Satheesan and M A Baby defending the terrorists? I do not understand the motivation behind it. Has their appeasement politics reached this stage? My request to them is that they should not defend the terrorists. They should realise what they said was wrong and stand together against terrorism," he said.

Chandrasekhar said that security in Jammu and Kashmir was being handled by the Army, the police there, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), who were "competent" in that matter.

"So if Vadra, Satheesan and Baby are security experts, let them go there and work or make statements," he added.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law and businessman Robert Vadra had on Wednesday triggered a row by suggesting that non-Muslims were attacked in Pahalgam as terrorists feel that Muslims are being "mistreated" in the country, prompting the BJP to accuse him of using the language of terrorists and demand his apology.