Hyderabad: Making light of Viswa Hind Parishad's (VHP) criticism of the National Democratic alliance (NDA) government on the issue of countering terrorism in the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on December 7 said the Sangh Parivar organisation was entitled to have its own views and assessment.

"We have done something (to tackle terrorism). They (VHP) want something more. They have every right to make their own assessment,” the BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

When it was pointed out that he was being soft on VHP which had on December 6 demanded resignation of the NDA government for 'failing' to effectively counter terrorism, Naidu quipped, "They are not our political rivals."

The VHP joint general secretary Onkar Bhave, while addressing 'Hindu Dharm Raksha Sammelan' in Ayodhya on December 6, lashed out at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and accused them of "double-speak and empty-talk".

Charging the NDA government with failing to contain terrorism, the VHP leader had said, "It will be better if this government left the office if it can not safeguard national dignity and honour."

PTI