Accusing the UPA of being ?soft on terror?, the BJP on Tuesday once again brought the Centre into the firing line over the fidayeen assault on the CRPF in Uttar Pradesh, charging that withdrawal of POTA had emboldened terrorists to step up attacks.

The party, however, also blamed the Mayawati-led government in the state for its failure in curbing repeated terror attacks in the state.

Criticising the UPA government for lack of, the party said that the Centre had developed a habit of playing blame game with the state governments whenever such attacks take place, instead of fighting them.

In an attempt to score some brownie points, party?s national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, the pre-dawn attack on the CRPF is a ?heart-rending? New Year greeting to the nation by the UPA.

Recounting the Centre?s anti-terror record, he alleged that the Centre remained unfazed by the spate of terrorist attacks in Uttar Pradesh…

?where not even a single accused have been apprehended yet?.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, on the other hand, said that withdrawal of POTA by the UPA government at the Centre had encouraged terrorists. He along with former party MP from Rampur Mukhtar Aabbas Naqvi visited the district and laid wreath on the bodies of the deceased CRPF jawans and a civilian killed the attack this morning.

Singh also blamed previous Mulayam Singh government for taking SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) ?lightly? and encouraging it by giving the organisation a clean chit.

Singh said that during his tenure as the state chief minister, he had banned SIMI but the subsequent governments, especially SP, ignored its activities and network, which is leading to the problem now.

Training gun against the Mayawati government, Naqvi said half of the districts of Uttar Pradesh had becme safe centers for terrorist activities and it appeared that the state government wanted to play a role of mute spectator.