POTA was repealed by UPA for vote bank politics: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) to "save its vote bank".

Delhi:While presenting the National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) to "save its vote bank".

The former Bharatiya Janta Party president said, "It (POTA) was repealed to save vote bank. POTA played a critical role in protecting the borders of the country."

He also assured that the Modi government will never "misuse" the NIA law, as claimed by the Opposition.

Shah further alleged that the repealing of POTA was "mistake" and that it led to a rise in the incidents of terrorism between 2004 and 2008.

Continuing his tirade against the UPA, Shah alleged that the decision to repeal the POTA, taken by UPA-I in its first cabinet meeting, was a "political decision".

He also went to say that the Mumbai blasts could have been avoided if POTA would not have been repealed.

Even the Union Home Minister was being accused by several MP's including AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi of reviving POTA through the NIA bill to attack the minorities in the country, Shah maintained that the government acts tough against any form of terrorism without looking at one's religion and referred to the "tough decision" in cases relating to the Tamil rebel group - LTTE.