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BJP has no moral right to continue in office: TDP

The Telugu Desam Party has lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition at the Centre following the torching of the Australian missionary and his minor sons in Orissa.

In a statement issued on Sunday in Hyderabad, party spokesman U Venkateshwarulu said the BJP-led coalition had ``lost the moral right'' to continue in office.

The attacks on Christians and the controversy over the Pakistan cricket tour indicate that the BJP has no right to continue in office.

Condemning the torching incident in unequivocal terms, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has expressed anguish over atrocities on the minorities at several places in the country and hoped that the prime minister would take necessary action to curb them.

''Ours is a secular society where every citizen has got freedom of practising the religion of his own choice. Preaching of religion and religious conversion are personal issues connected with the beliefs of individual citizens and they are guaranteed by the Constitution.

''If any forcible conversions come to the notice of any section of the society or individuals they have got the liberty of reporting the same to the authorities concerned to curb such activities but under no circumstances can they take the law into their own hands,'' he added.

He hoped that exemplary punishment would be awarded to those who committed this heinous crime so that it would be a deterrent for others.

UNI

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