Hyderabad: The BJP on Saturday expressed concern that its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has become the target of terrorists as part of an "international conspiracy" and alleged that the terrorists were getting "indirect unknown support" from some of the political parties in this country.

"There is an international conspiracy to prevent a powerful leader from emerging in India. The Indian Mujahideen attacks (in Patna) were part of that conspiracy. These people are getting inspiration from the neighbour (Pakistan) and also getting indirect unknown support from some of the parties in this country for political reasons and vote bank politics," BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu alleged here today.

"The very purpose of IM is targeting Modi and finishing him off because he is the viable alternative in the country. He`s a strong leader who will crush terrorists once he comes to power. So they don`t want a strong leader," Venkaiah told a press conference here.

"It`s clear that terrorists have targeted Modi. They want to finish him off politically because these people are not able to fight him politically and the forces that are inimical to India want to weaken the country`s leadership. That`s why they are doing all this. Despite knowing that, the Government of India is not taking strong action and also not providing security to Modi," the BJP leader lashed out.

"The terrorists arrested in Puttur in Andhra Pradesh recently revealed that they conducted recce in Gujarat (to target Modi)," he said.

"They want to finish him off as they couldn`t come up with an alternative leader to Modi or answer to his development agenda. They (Centre) are now using CBI as a weapon to trouble Modi and BJP by foisting cases," Venkaiah pointed out.

Had something gone wrong (in Patna), Modi would not have been there.

"As many as 23 bombs were recovered three days after the rally. It shows that the venue was not sanitised. Had the bombs exploded and something untoward happened to Modi, it would have sent a message that terrorists could do anything," he lamented.

The Centre and the Bihar government failed miserably

in providing fool proof security to Modi as the JD(U) was now rubbing shoulders with Congress, the Rajya Sabha member alleged.

"Yes, he is a national leader. It`s the duty of the nation to protect its leaders. The responsibility is on people and the government to protect the national leaders. Leaders should be safe and adopt policies that will keep people safe," he said.

"When all this is happening..Instead of focusing on that, the Centre is instigating CBI to book cases against Modi. They want to show Gujarat government as a culprit before elections. They are using CBI as a weapon to trouble Modi and BJP by foisting cases," Venkaiah said.

"The Congress does not have a clear policy against the terrorists. That is posing a threat to the country," the BJP leader added.

Referring to the uncertainty over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s scheduled visit to Sri Lanka for the CHOGM meet, Venkaiah found fault with the Congress for lacking clarity on a delicate foreign policy issue.

"There is a lot of discussion within the Congress and the government on whether to go or not. What to do before going..It has no clarity on such a delicate foreign policy issue. Its unable to take a strong decision," he said.

The Congress ministers were talking in different voices on the issue.

"The indecisiveness of the Congress is posing several challenges to the country," he said.