Kamlesh , 10 May : Rahul Gandhi has slammed the BJP for not realising the damages caused by the release of dreaded terrorist Masood Azhar during the Kandahar hijacking incident and instead talking of delay in the execution of death row convict Afzal Guru."They (BJP) are talking about the execution of Afzal Guru but are not taking the responsibility of freeing Masood Azhar," Rahul said at an election rally in Pithoragarh on Sunday.
"Had they (BJP-led NDA government) not freed Azhar, hundreds of innocent people, including defence and security personnels, would not have lost their lives," the Congress General Secretary said.
Rahul claimed that BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani, who was home minister in the NDA regime when the incident took place, is blaming former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the release of terrorists.
"Advani is blaming Mr Vajpayee for the Khandhar incident because he is not well enough to refute the charges" Rahul said.
He also flayed the BJP for not raising the issue of black money stashed in foreign banks during their five-year rule and talking about it only two weeks before the elections were announced.
Rahul said that whereas the Congress talks of poverty, farmer and unemployment, the BJP diverts the nation’s attention towards terrorism, "which is its own creation".
Enumerating the achievements of UPA government, Rahul said the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme initiated by the Centre is not only the world’s biggest employment scheme but "guarantees the eradication of rural poverty".
He also praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for "taking the economic growth to the rate of 9 per cent".
Speaking on local issues, Rahul blamed the Uttarakhand government for not using the fund allotted by the center for state’s development.
He also claimed that the NDA’s India Shining slogan was based on the selected rich in the country.