The Central government on Friday rubbished senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's criticism of the United Progressive Alliance government's handling of internal security and said that by doing so 'the prime minister-in-waiting' was creating an atmosphere of fear and tension.

Striking a defensive note over the Centre's internal security record, Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal told a press conference in New Delhi that 'it is unfortunate that the former Home Minister is making such statements to create an atmosphere of fear and tension'.

"It seems that Advani's intention is to generate insecurity by talking of terrorism. Such statements should not be merely denied, but strongly condemned," he said.

Giving comparative figures of the internal security situation during the regimes of National Democratic Alliance and UPA, Jaiswal asserted there has been a 70 per cent improvement in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir [Images], while the position had not deteriorated in the Northeast, if not improved.

So far as the Naxal menace was concerned, he said barring Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar, the problem had been contained up to 90 per cent in other parts.

"Unfortunately, the party of the prime minister-in-waiting is in power in three of these four states. He can at least ask the chief ministers of these states to control the problem," he said.

Jaiswal said that as part of a well-planned strategy to 'defame' the UPA, Advani was saying that UPA government is synonymous with terrorism.

"By saying all this, he will not be able to jump to the prime minister's post," he added.

Asked if any legal action would be taken against the BJP leader, Jaiswal said adopting the legal path did not always work in democracy.    

Comparing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir during the NDA and UPA rules, he said in 2003 as many as 3,401 incidents were reported leading to death of 314 security personnel and 795 civilians. In 2007, 1,054 incidents occurred claiming the lives of 105 soldiers and 154 civilians.

He said while 1,494 terrorists were killed in 2003, the number fell to 460 in 2007 as the situation improved.

"But we are not happy with the 70 per cent improvement. We want one hundred per cent improvement within the next one or two years. But for this, one should not vitiate the atmosphere by making such statements on the security scenario," he said.

Admitting that problems facing the Northeast for 40 to 50 years cannot be solved in one or two years, he said if situation has not improved there, it has at least not deteriorated.

On the Naxal problem, he said the Centre was doing its best by providing funds to states for modernisation of police force, helicopters, mine clearing vehicles, paramilitary personnel and intelligence inputs.

"Since law and order is a state subject, the Centre cannot go beyond a certain point. It is for the states to make best use of the central assistance to tackle the problem," he said and cited the example of Andhra Pradesh which, he pointed out, has handled the problem effectively.

Jaiswal said 33,000 personnel of paramilitary forces have been deputed to Naxal-hit states and 13,000 of them were in Chhattisgarh alone.

"We have a policy to deal with Naxalism. Did NDA have any such approach," he sought to know.