Modi flays ATS for booking army officials in blast case

RAIPUR: Defending the Indian Army in the Malegaon blast case, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday said the UPA government is dampening the morale of the armed forces by suspecting them of terrorist activities.

Modi, addressing an election rally in Dhamtari, 80 kms from here, flayed the Mumbai ATS, for booking innocent army officials, who had been working for the sake of motherland.

Modi also attacked Congress' new ally Samajwadi Party for questioning the recent Batla House encounter in Delhi, in which two terrorists and a policeman were killed.

"Such acts by responsbile ruling members are deliberate attempts to demoralise the security forces," he said.

Harping on his pet issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, Modi said that the local Congress candidate is also an outsider, and added that, it is the tradition of Congress to get leaders from outside and urged the people to vote for the BJP.

Given the fact that Dhamtari is considered as the 'Punjab' of Chhattisgarh in terms of food grain production, Modi said, the country's granaries are empty under the present UPA government, which were never during the NDA rule.