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"To the best of my knowledge, no National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner, including the Trinamul, has any reservations on the POTO. All the allies are supporting it," party president Jana Krishnamurthy told a press conference in Calcutta.
Krishnamurthy's comments come days after Trinamul chief Mamata Banerjee said that the government should ensure that POTO was not misused and urged the NDA to modify the clause in the ordinance relating to freedom of the press.
The BJP president said 'one or two' suggestions on the legislation were given by allies, which were being looked into.
Continuing with the conciliatory tone adopted by the party on the issue, he said the government was prepared to consider amendments once the bill was introduced in Parliament.
"I appeal to the Congress and other opposition parties to rise above petty political considerations in the national interest. Let us all come to an agreeable law to deal with the scourge of terrorism," he said.
Krishnamurthy said that even though the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) was backing the NDA on POTO, its leaders were apprehensive that the provisions might be used against them by the Tamil Nadu government.
He asserted that the world situation had undergone a sea change after the air strikes on New York's World Trade Centre towers and the Pentagon.
Krishnamurthy pointed out that while the Centre was being targeted by the Opposition proposing the POTO, Maharashtra already has such an Act.
"A somewhat similar bill passed by the Karnataka assembly is pending before the President. Even the West Bengal government wanted to bring a similar ordinance, but had to retract following pressure from Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) bigwigs who feared dilution of the party's opposition to the POTO," the BJP chief added.
Meanwhile in Delhi, Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley too came out in defence of POTO saying a stringent law is needed to enable the country to give a 'chilling' message to those trying to 'fiddle' with its integrity.
The minister said the country needed stringent law to handle terrorist activities, as ordinary laws did not have enough provision to tackle the menace of insurgency.
Jaitley criticised a section of media for calling POTO a draconian legislation saying, "They are not thinking about those security personnel who are fighting terrorism."
He said that since the past 10 years 'we have been fighting a low intensity war in the name of curbing terrorism, which has cost us more than a high intensity war.
POTO Controversy: Complete Coverage
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