Patna serial blasts a gross intelligence failure: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj condemned the serial blasts in Patna on Sunday ahead of Narendra Modi's rally saying it was a "gross intelligence failure".

"I strongly condemn the serial blasts on occasion of the BJP rally in Patna. This is a gross intelligence failure," she tweeted after the incident.

Five people were killed and 83 injured in eight serial bomb blasts near the venue of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rally in Patna minutes before he reached there to address a huge gathering.

Hours before the multiple explosions, a crude bomb went off in a newly constructed toilet at the Patna railway station, 2-km from the BJP's Hunkar rally venue.

Janata Dal-United leader Sabir Ali said there are "two parts of the blasts."

"We condemn the blasts and will not spare anyone behind the incidents. But who has benefited from the incident, who has benefited from its timing," he said.

Asked if the BJP was behind the blasts, Ali said, "The circumstances are speaking a lot of things. We are not naming any one before the inquiry is complete but circumstances are speaking a lot."

Meanwhile, BJP's Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad sought a thorough probe into the blasts and said the response of state police was not adequate even though the rally was fixed eight months back.

"The police should have taken precautions after the first blast. There were no metal detectors, frisking and other security measures at the rally. The police preparations left much to be desired," he said.

Prasad said even though they saw the first blast from the podium, they played it down to prevent any panic reaction.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said, "This was complete failure of the IB and the CID and when there is a failure of law and order, there is going to be acrimony between the communities because of security of the environment."

Reacting to the incident, JD-U President Sharad Yadav said he did not know whether there was a "wrongdoing" in the incident. "If there is any wrongdoing, it will come out in the investigations. No one has even called me from Bihar and I will be going there in the evening," he said.

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi demanded an independent probe into the serial blasts in Patna. It was the responsibility of the state governments to make security arrangements ahead of rallies, he said.

An independent inquiry into the serial blasts in Patna should be held at the earliest, Joshi said in Lucknow.

President Pranab Mukherjee condemned the serial blasts in Patna and said the nation must remain firm in its resolve to fight against all forms ofterror as violence has no place in a civilised society.
Expressing deep concern over the incident, the President conveyed his condolences to the families of the deceased and prayed for recovery of those injured in the incidents.

In his message, the President called upon people to maintain calm and restraint. "The nation must remain united in its firm resolve to fight against all forms of terror and violence which have no place in a civilised society," Mukherjee said. He called upon concerned authorities to carry out speedy investigations in order to bring the perpetrators of the act to justice.