Sonia Gandhi and Shivraj Patil at a Jaipur hospital. (PTI)

New Delhi, May 15: The blasts in Jaipur have turned the terrorism tables on the BJP that has been blaming appeasement by Congress governments for the recurrence of attacks in the country.

As Rajasthan is ruled by the BJP, the party has been compelled to make a subtle change in its approach and stress on better Centre-state co-ordination. The party has also demanded a convention of chief ministers for a comprehensive discussion on terrorism and to evolve a “concerted effort” to fight the menace.

The BJP had been asserting that the rise in attacks was primarily because of the Congress’s reluctance to get tough on terrorism. It often pointed out that states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh were seen as soft targets whereas Gujarat was feared by terrorists because of Narendra Modi’s firmness. BJP spokespersons had even advised the Prime Minister to learn from Gujarat.

When bombs went off in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP’s spin doctors said that neither the Samajwadi Party nor the Bahujan Samaj Party was capable of fighting terror because of their vote-banks.

But the bloodbath in Jaipur has weakened this logic, making it difficult for the BJP leadership to boast an effective political strategy in fighting terrorism.

Although the BJP is still levelling the usual charges against the UPA, the party is also asking the Centre to ensure exchange of “credible intelligence”.

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said terrorism had national and international ramifications and could not be treated as a mere law-and-order problem that falls in the states’ domain. “The BJP is not trading charges…. We are simply trying to highlight the magnitude of the problem which demands firm resolve of the government of India and proper co-ordination with the states, irrespective of the political divide.” Prasad came armed with figures to counter the Congress’s charge that the NDA regime witnessed larger number of attacks.

“During the NDA regime, there were five major incidents in the hinterland. Under the UPA, the number of such terrorist incidents in the hinterland has risen sharply to 22 in the last three years in which 600 people have been killed. During the NDA regime from 1999 to 2003, the killing of terrorists by the security forces in the country on an average was 2,500 approximately every year. The same has today sharply reduced to around 1,185 terrorists approximately every year.”

Congress charge

The Congress today accused the Vasundhara Raje Scindia government of not acting on “very specific information” about a possible terrorist strike in Jaipur.

“The initial information was there would be strikes in Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur. Later, this was refined and Jaipur was zeroed in on as the most likely target,” Manish Tewari, a Congress spokesperson, said.

“My charge is based on intelligence available with the central government. I speak with full authority when I state that 45 days ago, the Centre sent an advisory to the Rajasthan government. It analysed the pattern of terrorism and terrorist strikes and gave examples of how every big strike on a specific target was invariably followed by a larger and more spread-out attack.”