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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000478 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA, DS/DSS/ITA, AND S/CT/ALLAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC PGOV CASC PREL KISL KCRM IN
SUBJECT: TERROR (AND TERRORISM) ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL 
 
NEW DELHI 00000478  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On February 4 Bharatiya Janata Party 
(BJP) leader L.K. Advani cancelled a dozen campaign events 
scheduled for the coming month after National Security 
Advisor M.K. Narayanan warned him about terror threats to his 
personal safety.  The BJP did, however, hold its kick-off 
rally, sharply criticizing Congress for being soft on terror. 
 Congress responded rhetorically the following day and also 
extended the ban on the Student Islamic Movement of India 
(SIMI), a student group believed to have links with Islamic 
terrorism.  A war of words has ensued with neither side 
gaining a short-term edge.  As the country gears up for 
national polls, however, the BJP may come out ahead on the 
issue given its consistent hardline stance, its espousal of 
the Hindutva security and sovereignty issues, Congress's 
suspension of the BJP's anti-terrorism legislation, and 
simply because it is not the party in power during the most 
recent attacks.  End Summary. 
 
BJP Accedes to Terror Advice from Narayanan 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On February 4 National Security Advisor M.K. 
Narayanan persuaded BJP leader L.K. Advani to temporarily 
curtail his campaign schedule due to terror threats.  Neither 
side released specifics of the meeting, but BJP Vice 
President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told the press Narayanan 
relayed "credible intelligence about a security threat to Mr. 
Advani."  According to NDTV, Narayanan told Advani that 
arrested Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami (HuJI) operatives had 
confessed to targeting the BJP leader.  Last week the media 
reported that the Home Ministry reviewed security 
arrangements for both Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister 
Narenda Modi after intelligence suggested Dawood Ibrahim was 
targeting the pair at the behest of Pakistan's Inter Services 
Intelligence. 
 
¶3.  (U) The BJP had planned over a dozen rallies for Advani 
during the next several weeks in advance of national 
elections.  But after a day deliberating Narayanan's warning, 
the party cancelled the bulk of the events.  Only the 
February 6 inaugural in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, as well as 
rallies in Karnataka and Delhi remained scheduled.  After 
Jabalpur, the next big rallies had been scheduled for Rampur, 
Lucknow, Faizabad, and Varanasi - all in Uttar Pradesh and 
all the scenes of recent terrorist attacks. 
 
Politics: BJP Campaigns on Terror, Congress Responds 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶4.  (U) At the February 6 kick-off in a security-laden 
Jabalpur, Advani sharply criticized the Congress-led United 
Progressive Alliance (UPA) for not doing enough to combat 
terrorism.  The BJP has tagged Congress as "soft on terror" 
and has made terrorism a main plank in its campaign against 
the UPA.  Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi hit back the 
next day, citing the previous National Democratic Alliance 
(NDA) government's failure to prevent the 2001 
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) attacks on the Indian Parliament and 
Red Fort.  That same day, the UPA extended its ban on SIMI 
for two more years.  The group has been banned since 2001; 
its members have reportedly provided logistical support to 
groups such as LeT and HuJI. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In another sign that the BJP intends to highlight 
terrorism as a key theme in the coming national and state 
elections, the party's legal cell organized a "combating 
terrorism" meeting on February 8 in New Delhi.  Several 
prominent BJP leaders, including General Secretary Arun 
Jaitley, Spokesman Ravi Shanker Prasad, Vice President Bal 
Apte and Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan called for tough laws 
to fight the terrorist threat.  They accused the UPA of 
"minority appeasement" which they blamed for the party's lack 
of political will to face the menace.  The BJP plank on 
terrorism will focus on three themes: Pakistan-inspired 
Islamic terror; China-supported separatist terrorism in the 
north east; and the Maoist/Naxalite insurgency threat in a 
broad stretch of India extending from Bihar to Andhra 
Pradesh. 
 
NEW DELHI 00000478  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) On January 31, Congress MP Raashid Alvi told 
Poloffs he did not think the terrorism issue would be a 
winner for the BJP.  The Muslim MP welcomed the issue and 
said Congress was fully prepared to vigorously refute the 
BJP's arguments.  Congress spokesman Singhvi's quick 
rejoinder to Advani's Jabalpur speech shows that the Congress 
Party is ready with its talking points on terrorism and will 
hit back whenever the BJP raises the issue. 
 
MEA Admits Heightened Security Atmosphere 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At a February 5 meeting with PolCouns, Americas 
Joint Secretary, Gaitri Kumar, mentioned a "sense of 
heightened alertness," several times.  The comment followed a 
particularly tense January 26 Republic Day holiday in the 
capital.  Rampur, site of the January 1 attack on a Central 
Reserve Police Force base, lies only 100 miles from Delhi. 
 
Terror Plays Two Roles in Campaign 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Comment: Clearly, whatever threat information 
Narayanan conveyed to Advani, the BJP took it seriously.  And 
while Advani continued his political attack on Congress over 
terrorism, he did not suggest the warning was politically 
motivated.  Terrorism now appears to be playing an ever 
increasing role in Indian politics, not only as an electoral 
issue to be debated, but also as a very real threat on the 
campaign trail.  Any future attacks will add fuel to the 
BJP's arguments and come at the expense of the sitting UPA 
government.  End Comment. 
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