After PM, Singhal targets Brajesh

Avoiding a direct attack on the Prime Minister Vajpayee, he said: ‘‘Advisers like Vishwamitra guided Ram while Chanakya advised Chandragupta. But now, with Mishra as his adviser, Vajpayee has no one to turn to.’’

‘‘The PM rules the country as per his adviser’s guidance. Here, the adviser is the culprit and should be removed,’’ he said. ‘‘I have nothing against the PM, except that he has gone against the feelings of the Hindu samaj,’’ Singhal added.

Asked about the elections in Gujarat, he said: ‘‘If elections are possible in Kashmir, why not in Gujarat? Election Commissioner Lyngdoh has being playing the favouritism card.’’

‘‘There is no better saint in the world than a Hindu. Our faith is ahimsa (non-violence). Mahavir and Buddha also preached ahimsa and we are here to protect the same.’’

‘‘They (the minority community) tell us that we are fundamentalists. What do they want? Should we stop protecting our religion, which is based on age-old traditions?’’ Singhal asked. ‘‘If an American Bishop makes a comment, why should Hindu shops here be burnt and looted?’’

BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reserved his comment on the remarks against Mishra, saying he was not sure what Singhal had said. ‘‘The Prime Minister is not only in command of everything, but is also providing an able and effective leadership to the country,’’ he said.

This is not the first time that the PMO has been attacked. RSS sarsanghchalak K.S. Sudarshan, addressing a meeting of the intelligentsia in New Delhi on October 2, had said that those opposed to swadeshi and wanting to set up slaughter houses to kill cows in every village would have to go. ‘‘We will have to remove all Macaulay-putras and Marx-putras,’’ he said.