Some parties sympathetic to terrorists, says PM Narendra Modi

Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi, Modi slammed SP for being "sympathetic" towards terrorists

Days after a court convicted 49 people for the Ahmedabad serial blasts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he had vowed to punish the perpetrators even if they took refuge in “paatal”, and accused the Samajwadi Party of being sympathetic to such terrorists.

Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi, Modi slammed the Samajwadi Party for being “sympathetic” towards terrorists and claimed that the previous government headed by it had sought to withdraw cases against several terror accused.

"When I was the chief minister of Gujarat, the Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts took place. I can never forget that day. In those days, my government had taken a ‘sankalp’ (vow) that these terrorists would be traced, even from ‘paataal’ (netherworld), and punished.

“I remained silent for so many years because the hearing on the Ahmedabad blasts case was going on. Today, when the court has given them the punishment, I am raising the subject before the country,” he said at the rally.

Targeting the Samajwadi Party, Modi said when it came to power in UP, its government tried to withdraw a case against Shamim Ahmed who was an accused in the bomb blasts in Sankat Mochan Temple and Cantt railway station in Varanasi in 2006.