He slammed the UPA government response to the Mumbai attack. “The government statements kept on being repeated — that all options are open. You don’t talk about all options being open which has just one connotation in situations of that kind. If you think a certain course of action is desirable, doable, feasible, will yield results, do it. Don’t talk about all options being open.” Asked if he favoured the idea of sending troops to Pakistan, as was advocated by a section of the BJP, he said: “There’s no question of someone who’s not in government of saying anything of this kind¿ This has been my consistent stand.”

Asked if the party would call for a zero-tolerance approach policy on hijacking of planes, he said: “No country of the world determines policy in this matter in this manner and, therefore, it will depend on the situation”. He refused to be drawn into charges against him on the Kandahar hijack case, made into a big poll issue by the Congress.

On the Indo-US nuclear deal, he said: “We will think about it when we come to power. But we won’t allow our differences on the Indo-US nuclear deal to affect our determination for excellent relations with the US.”

He said that the attitude of Muslims was “changing” towards the party. “The hostility that we faced in the past is not there. It will, however, take time for them (Muslims) to become (our) supporters. There are people who are appreciative of our commitment to good governance. There are also instances like the one of highest per capita income of Muslims in Gujarat”.

... contd.